Adoration Kills
by GreenPen42
Summary: When Mikan Sakura, a ninja highly trained in the art of assassination, becomes Natsume Hyuuga's protector, she enters a world where knives and swords aren't enough to keep her alive.
1. A Sakura Blossoms

Ooh, lookie! A new story!(: Okay, so this one came to me while snoozing off in history class one day, and I thought about it for a couple of days and I realized: this could turn into something big. So here it is, and I hope you enjoy.(:

Summary: Mikan Sakura, the daughter of the head of the Sakura clan, is the first girl born into the family in thousands of years. Despite this disadvantage, she is considered to be the best out of all the ninjas in the clan. When she turns sixteen, this means only one thing to her: she is ready to receive her duty. And it's not a "what", but rather a "who". The Sakura clan has served under the Hyuuga clan, a powerful line of rulers, for many generations. It is now Mikan's turn to take the role of the heir's protector, and shield him from the dangers that might come his way as he grows into the Lord of the Three Great Lands. The heir's name is Natsume Hyuuga. Fierce, arrogant, and dangerous is what he only seems to Mikan at their first meeting. But as she spends more time with him, whether it's in the battlefield or venturing out into the unknown, she realizes that he is so much more than what he depicts. And maybe, if she can fulfill her duty, maybe she'll find something bigger than making her clan proud.

* * *

><p><em>We were strangers<em>  
><em>Starting out on a journey<em>  
><em>Never dreaming<em>  
><em>What we'd have to go through<em>  
><em>Now here we are<em>  
><em>And I'm suddenly standing<em>  
><em>At the beginning with you<em>

-_At the Beginning _by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis

* * *

><p><em>Chapter I: A Sakura Blooms<em>

_"From now until the day you die, you are to protect this man. You will let no harm come to him, and if it is necessary, be sure it is you that has to be hurt in his stead. Mikan Sakura of the Sakura clan, I am assigning you the duty to be Natsume Hyuuga's protector."_

The trees whizzed by, my eyes only catching the blurry green of their falling leaves. My feet lightly tapped the branches with a quick jolt, and by the next second I was already ascending to the next branch, and the next after the next. The strands of my hair moved unanimously against the wind that weakly fought against me, shining only when it hit the feeble forest sunlight that shone in when the treetops parted. I kept my breathing steady, never letting it get ahead or behind for I knew I wouldn't last if my lungs and heart didn't work in the same steady rhythm.

Then again, I didn't ever recall letting that happen.

"My Lady," came a voice not too far behind.

I didn't look back. I knew he's close enough to hear me, because he's one of the few people that was fast enough to keep up with my pace. "Yes, Toshiro?"

"I'm still not sure you should do this."

I slowed my speed so that we were jumping side by side. I still didn't befall my gaze on him. "That's a little too late now, isn't it?"

"My La—"

"And besides—" I shrugged and leaped two step ahead, leaving him in my wake once more. "It's my duty. You didn't train me all these years, push me to be the best just so you can tell me to run away right before I can accomplish what I've been set to do." It was only then that I circled my head to him, letting my eyes fall at the sight of Toshiro's two golden beauties. I almost held my breathe in when I saw that they've lost their mirthful glow, and was now but a dying flicker of life in him. It broke my heart to see him so sad like this. "Toshiro, today marks the day that you will lose the title of my caretaker. I will not allow you to worry about me when you've got a baby on your way," I said, smiling.

His mouth twitched in shock. "My Lady, how did you know about that?"

"Oh please," I called over my shoulder. "Who didn't know about that? Fiora, Keel!"

Immediately, the presence of two beings came up behind Toshiro with such grace that it made proud swell up in my gut. To think, a month of strict rules can actually turn these eleven year-old twins into well-behaved little monsters.

"Yes, My Lady?" they answered in perfect unison.

"You knew about Toshiro's kid, right?"

Keel, the more playful of the two and the one who was quick to break his character faster, laughed and jumped on Toshiro's neck, struggling to not fall off as Toshiro made his jumps. He dug his nails into the underside of Toshiro's chin, and Toshiro, who was already immune to the pain (it wasn't the first time Keel had done this - _heavens _no) let him hang on."You dog! You've tainted Lady Kish is just three week's time. Wanna tell me your secret? I've been trying to court this girl named Ysabel, and let me tell you, she's a hell of a wo—"

And of course, Fiora, the sensible, mature, though as equally as obnoxious twin, slapped Keel off Toshiro, who made no signs to hide his blushing smile. In the back of my ear I heard Keel's tense yelp as he flew airborne, the tap of his foot on a tree that reassured me he regained balance coming shortly afterwards. Fiora flicked her fiery ruby curls over her shoulder, acting so sophisticated it drew a measly laugh from my lips.

"Keel," she stated. "Please don't embarrass yourself in front of the Hyuuga heir. You will dirty My Lady's honor."

I could already imagine how Keel emphasized his eye roll. "Come on, Fi," Keel whined. "It's not like you're the one who's been assigned to be his protector. Forget about marrying the guy—My Lady called dips."

I found my hand ready to snap Keel's head off it if wasn't for Fiora beating me to it.

"Keel," I said after the impact, "you okay?" I heard that slap, and I could faintly feel it as if it resonated on my cheek as well. Fiora was always the hitter.

"Yeah," he replied, his voice cracking. "Fi, I was just kidding."

"You idiot! I-I'm way too young for the Hyuuga h-heir! Don't even j-joke about that!" exclaimed a flustered Fiora, seeming like she didn't even hear what Keel said.

I sighed. "And you forgot to add that that will _never _happen. I'm his protector, and nothing more will be of our relationship."

"E-Exactly!"

"Fiora, don't force yourself."

"O-Okay!"

"Yeah, Fiora," mocked Keel in a sing-song tone. "Stop blushing."

"Oka—I mean, Keel, you brat!"

I laughed. Though a dreaded laugh, because I foretold the minute we reach the Hyuuga Palace, the twins will probably already have had ripped each throats out, and Toshiro would most likely be in too deep dreaming about his wife and newborn that he wouldn't be fit to introduce me to the Hyuuga clan, which was the sole reason why he was escorting me there. Keel and Fiora were just backup in case foolish enemies decided to ambush us on our way there, since I was in no condition to fight seriously today unless I wanted to be late for the ceremony. Despite them only being eleven, they're as deadly as they come, and despite their status being under me, I wouldn't mess with neither Keel, nor—and especially—Fiora.

Sighing and listening to their ridiculous quarrel like some toddlers made it much harder for me to jump with no reveling pressure loading onto my shoulders. With every step on these thin branches, and with every hop that ascends my body into midair only draws me closer to the place where I will forever be chained to.

How crazy and unbelievable it was…that it's been eight years since I've known of the news that I would become Natsume Hyuuga's shield till death. I could still picture it clearly in my mind—the day Father told me of my future, as if I was some doll that would obey quietly with no objections.

Well, I was.

I often reminisce about his hard eyes boring into mine, how he stood like a menacing tower in front of me when in actual reality today, he's but a couple inches taller. His mouth moved, and for some reason, I can never recall what he said to me if I tried at the moment. But ten, maybe twenty minutes later, I'd remember. I would always remember.

He said, _"From now until the day you die, you are to protect this man. You will let no harm come to him, and if it is necessary, be sure it is you that has to be hurt in his stead. Mikan Sakura of the Sakura clan, I am assigning you the duty to be Natsume Hyuuga's protector."_

Those were the very words that drove me through anything. Anything.

The Sakura clan was a family of ninjas, and not just any; we were considered to be golden. We were many things: a bird with dignity, a jaguar with a brain, a flower with color, an assassin with class, and above all, we were servants with honor. Being born into this name, it's a given that we were to serve the almighty Hyuuga clan. Our life was practically planned out for us the minute we breathe our own air. I was no exception, I was way too far from that.

When I turned five, I had already began sculpting my skills—skills such as hitting targets dead center from three hundred feet away, and surviving in the wilderness with nothing but natural resources, and camouflaging to stitch myself in the world of darkness, and overall combat. These abilities usually come to a child when they hit the certain age of eight (also the age that they are told they would work for the Hyuuga clan in another eight years) but for some reason, I found my calling three years early than what I should.

Thankfully, it gave my father an upper hand. Being head of the clan and having a reputation to protect, it rid his stress of bearing a daughter, or in this case, me. A girl born into the top class of the Sakura clan, the class that will have its heir to carry out its duty, was unheard of until my mother gave birth to me. No one denied the fact that I was a disappointment to my father in the beginning, and that he wished for nothing more than for me to be a boy. No one denied that, not even Mother. Not even me.

And maybe that's why I was so advanced than everybody else. Maybe Father's scrutinizing stares, his judging scowl, the way disapproved my hair when it was mid-arm's length, and the way he tried so hard to kindly hide all of his bitter emotions from me encouraged me.

But for that, I love him. I love Mother, too. For pushing me past my limit at times, I love my clan and never have I ever thought about being a burden to them because I was the best of the best. I knew, deep inside, they came to learn how to accept me and now, they truly did love me; vice versa. It's a good feeling - knowing that you earned your parents' love by working diligently for it.

As for the Hyuuga clan, the only type of personal information I was knowledgeable about them was that they had a son that needed a protector. He's around my age, maybe a couple months older, but it's close enough. The head family consisted of the Eldest Brother Natsume Hyuuga, the Youngest Sister Aoi Hyuuga, High Mistress Kaoru Hyuuga, and Lord Akihiro Hyuuga.

They were powerful people, having ruled over the three Great Lands for well over thirty years, and their ancestors for thousands of eons. The Hyuuga clan had in their possession the fairest properties, the heaviest gold, and according to the rumors, they're the most beautiful men and women that have ever walked this Earth. And we, the Sakura's, had the fortunate opportunity to serve and protect them and their historic heirlooms ever since the earliest of their dominant reign.

Have I said that they're the supposed to be astoundingly beautiful? Oh, right. I did.

I was not allowed to question this fact to anyone. It was utterly disrespectful. Though I did take in hints and subtle giveaways. Like when Fiora's cool facade collapsed when the Hyuuga heir came into verbal converse. That's one, and it's not the first.

But setting aside everything, I hoped the heir was not as beautiful as they say—that they're exaggerating to get on the Hyuuga's good side. I hoped the mistress of the clan gave life to an ugly baby, because if he's pretty, it'd take me a while to get used to him. Beautiful people were always intimidating. I hated that.

Father and Mother will most likely already be ready and waiting at the palace. When I woke up this morning, I've been told that they left early to get in some extra preparations for when I arrive to receive my duty. No doubt that Mother will be wearing her formal robes, the robes she only dressed herself in once in a decade. She picked out my clothes, too, because she knew very well I couldn't dress to impress for my life.

Father will be there. And once I walked up the Great Palace steps, he'd look at me and smile as if I was his greatest accomplishment yet. He won't notice the long, cascading traditional bow wrapped around my waist, or the flowing, auburn hair that swayed side to side beside my hips, or my lenghtened eyelashes that I couldn't help but bat, or any of my feminine traits. What he will notice, though, is my elegance when I come to inherit the sword from the Lord that will protect the heir. He will notice only my pride in being one of the best Sakura ninjas in generations, and the justice I will bring to my family name. He will notice me and all my feats I've passed, and smile as if I was his greatest accomplishment yet.

And I will smile back because it's true.

* * *

><p>By the time the bright sun decided to initialize it's slumber, Toshiro, Fiora, Keel, and I were marching up the steps of the Great Palace. I somehow managed to put the two siblings back under control—a task impossible, often—and Toshiro was already focused even without my consolation. I lead the three as they strode behind me, silently but not one bit deadly.<p>

The thought of walking these stairs alone suddenly hit me, and with it I was thankful they're there by my side. We exchanged no words of comfort, nor did a mere reassuring hand fall upon my shoulder, but their presence, and the memories I've made with them that lead to our strong bond now, gave me an unusual giddy feeling that's enough to keep my heart from pounding out of my chest.

My attention darted to my left where the sun would soon sleep under the horizon. The Great Palace stood on a high hill with all its perimeter observing out over the land for hundreds and hundreds of miles. It overlooked almost everything from forests to neighboring towns and even kingdoms. The rivers in the distance were a thin line of baby blue that weakened in the presence of the parting sun, and the clouds wrapped about the place where it would rise once again tomorrow. It's as if they tried to cover the sun's absence that we humans were so inferior to and would mercilessly die if it would so happen to disappear; it's as if they didn't want us to worry. I have never thought that clouds, who were only made up of simple air and water, were so generous.

The wind once again caressed my body with a message that seemed to be saying _You'll do fine. Breathe. Calm down. Make your clan proud. _I looked on the roofs of the village houses, and the people who were as tiny as fire ants form the view all the way up here. I felt as if I could sprout wings and fly over the world.

This is going to be my home from now. I could look at this anytime I want.

A tiny grin played on my lips as I ducked my head to try and hide it from my three comrades. I'm supposed to be composed, to act professional which meant no smiling. After boring my stare on the marble staircase, I finally got the grin off my face. I don't want the Hyuuga clan to get a bad impression of me from the very start, so I made sure to keep my gaze down at all times. No peeking to either of my side because I know the breathe-taking scene will only force another affectionate expression.

But I couldn't help but think, that after this dubbing, I could've sneaked off to this spot, and starde out to feel like the world in was my hands. I could've smile as much as I wanted then. Just...just get through this. Okay, Mikan?

The thought only quickened my pace.

"My Lady?"

"Mm—I mean, Keel?"

"Are you nervous?"

_Yes. Yes. So very, so. _"Absolutely not. I have been preparing for this for months. Anxiety will not come to me at this moment."

"She's nervous," Fiora whispered to her brother discreetly. "Look at her. My Lady's fidgeting."

"Hush, Dae'chi twins. Let My Lady concentrate."

I tried not to pay too much attention to the fact that I _was _fidgeting. My bones shook as it got harder and harder to stand still by each passing second. I couldn't even dream of what will happen if I start to perspire.

But luckily, I had at last reached the top of the stairs and what—or more like who awaited me, calmed my aching heart along with my nerves.

"Mother. Father."

Mother's eyes danced with anticipation, her lips curving into a warm smile. "Mikan. You're here."

As I expected, Mother dressed in her robes—her once-in-a-decade-wearable robes. Her hair was up in a bun decorated with fancy ornaments, and she had applied lipstick, as well. My mother is gorgeous, even without any help. I had sometimes grown envious of her natural beauty; I wondered why I hadn't inherited that trait so essential in being a girl. But at this moment, I was glad she kept it all to herself, because she's the only one who can make that kind of elegance work.

Father was the same as always— with the lines on his face that hinted years of laughter, his sturdy structure that would not be knocked over by any kind of wave, and his leader-like aura. This was the man I respected very much, and was the last man I wanted to disappoint. I quickly straightened my spine, only to stop halfway because I had already done so on instinct.

He nodded in my direction, as I curtsied with Fiora while Keel and Toshiro bowed in return. "Father," I addressed.

Mother and Father stood side by side, their shoulders touching. Behind their figures were maids and butlers lined up in a perfect row with hands behind their backs and neatly combed hair. Their gaze was pointed on the ground beneath their feet, a sign of high regards, and behind them, at last, were the Hyuuga Mistress and Lord.

They sat upon thrones that differed in size—the Lord's overpowering—but both treasures were twinkling in the dim light, all sides of its perimeters embedded with valuable jewels I only have heard of. Even so, the thrones might as well be called simple chairs in the presence of the Mistress and Lord.

I couldn't help being astonished. They were angels. They were as captivating—maybe ever more than Mother, who was the white dove in our Land.

I curtsied again for them.

"Mikan," Mother said as I rose, "I suspect you had a pleasant journey?"

"Yes, Mother."

"I'm sorry we left with no word. Big day, today. Yes?"

"Yes, Mother."

She glided over and brushed my hair behind my left ear. She cupped my cheek. "Oh, my child. It has finally come. Did you put the bow on by yourself?"

I laid my hand atop hers. "Yes, Mother," I answered, lightly smiling.

"It looks exquisite."

"Yes, Mother."

"Toshiro. Keel. Fiora. Thank you for escorting my daughter safely."

"Mistress," they all replied.

"Toshiro, Izumi and I will take care of the introductions. Go home. Miss Kish is in need of your attention."

_Told you, _I thought as I felt him stiffen. So badly did I want to turn around and gawk at his expression that is most likely trying to hide the blush as it's making its way around his cheeks.

"Yes, Mistress."

"Same applies to you, Dae'chi twins. Give your mother my greetings. Now, have a safe trip back, you three."

"Mistress," they echoed once more.

I felt a bearing emptiness when they departed, like I don't have my pillar of support holding me up anymore. But I realized, as I stared at who I have left, there was Father, and there was Mother.

She dropped her fingers on my shoulder and squeezed it lovingly. She then put it at the small of my back, leading me towards Father.

Once we reached him, he stood by my side and as a family of three, we began our way to the Mistress and Lord.

"Father, I apologize for my delay. I wish it had done none any casualties."

He chuckled softly. "You are nothing but early, my child. We were expecting you at nightfall. It is—" he closed his mouth for a second, pondering in his mind. And then, "—nearly the appointed time."

I never really did know how he could do that: how he could know so many things if he just thought about the matter for a split second. It amazed me, this talent of his. "Then, I apologize for my low accurateness."

He shook his head as we had just passed the long line of black and white servants—the maids to my Mother's left and the butlers to my Father's right. My parents both nodded to their sides politely. "No, child," Father whispered. "It is good."

I couldn't say anymore after that, because we were now standing in front of the Mistress and Lord, the two, possibly most powerful humans on Earth yet. Mother curtsied, while Father and I bowed.

I was no girl in their eyes, I am a protector. And as far as anyone has ever taught me, a protector bows for their masters.

"Oh, my." The voice was rather high, like a melodious ring of chime bells. It was the High Mistress. "A lady bowing? How unusual."

The evident disappointment in her tone made my heart dropped. What? Did I get that wrong? Is my clear, clear memory of Toshiro teaching me this lesson blurry? I lowered my bow closer to the ground. "I apologize, Mistress. I had n—"

Mother then laughed, making my alert senses flinch. "Kaoru, must I remind you how this poor child has been raised?"

The Mistress laughed, too. "Oh, no. That's not needed, Yuka. I hear enough from the rumors. Quite a treasure, I know."

"Quite, quite. Are you aware of when she brought home a messenger pigeon?"

Her eyes grew large. "No, not yet. Please, do tell."

And off, they went. I was far too amazed to keep my bowing stance, so I lined my spine back up and the only thing I could at at the moment was stare at Mother, who smiled and laughed and told the story of when I prevented another war between two of the three Great lands, and then to the Mistress, who exchanged her mirthfulness with the same quality.

I felt Father tap my shoulder. "You don't know?" he murmured, leaning towards me.

"No. Father, what is going on?"

"Yuka and High Mistress have a past together. They have been close aquaintances ever since the age of eleven."

"What? How come she has never told me?"

He shrugged. "Even I didn't know until recently."

I sneaked a peek at Mother. "She is..."

"Amazing," he finished, so full of admiration it made my insides ache.

I nodded.

The little talk between the two continued for a reasonable amount of time. In the beginning, I listened intently, searching for words or hidden meanings that contrasted Father's given. But they were amiable with each other, and they actually seemed like old friends whose spark never died. If that is true, then Mother really is amazing.

Though there there was something off in the Mistress that I _had _to suspect. She acted dignified, and she posed herself as a High Mistress should, but...there was something off about her. Maybe it's the way she put abrupt emphasis on words, or when she draws her head back, actually _chortling._ Or maybe it's because although there seemed to be a dominant feel around her, she didn't quite enforce it. And suddenly, all those stories I've heard about her might and prevail seemed so distant and untrue, and that this woman who stood on a much higher status than I was actually just a common Queen who owned the earth.

After what seemed like too long of a while, the Lord decided to finally take action. He cleared his throat at first, but it did the two chatty women no change. He coughed louder the second time; still no alteration. The Lord seemed so hesitant as he knotted his eyebrows together in close contact, and after nibbling on his bottom lip, he opened his mouth.

"K-Kaoru? I'd hate to intrude, but th—"

"Oh, hush Aki! I want to ravel more about how Mikan Sakura prevented a war," she snapped, glueing her eyes to Mother and swatting a graceful hand at the Lord.

"Y-Yes, my Love, but it is almost nightfall, and we must initialize the ceremony."

The Mistress clicked her tongue as she rolled her eyes, and my mother finally stopped talking to look between the two with amuse.

"It was only going to take another minute."

"Kaoru."

"Oh, alright," she said, throwing her hands up. "Mikan, my dear, you must forgive me to my impoliteness."

"Please. I am not worthy of your apology."

She clapped and then laid her forearms on the armrests beside her. "Now. The night is almost upon us. Mikan Sakura of the Sakura clan, tell me, why are you in our presence?"

I sighed to myself. Finally, finally it all begins.

I pursed my lips. "I am Mikan Lorel De'Sho Sakura, daughter of the head of the Sakura clan of hidden ninjas. High Mistress Kaoru Hyuuga, and Lord Akihiro Hyuuga, I am before you now to accept my duty as your honorable son's protector."

"Why should we trust you with our beloved's life?"

"I will protect him. I will shield him at all costs. If anyone has to be hurt, I will make sure it is me in his stead. I will never let harm graze him, and as long as I am alive, I will continue to do so."

"Then," the Lord began taking over, "Mikan Lorel De'Sho Sakura of the Sakura clan, daughter of clan head Izumi Sakura and Mistress Yuka Sakura, prepare to take oath—" I raised my left hand while my right covered my heart "—and repeat these words with honesty.

"I, Mikan Sakura—"

My knees were buckling as I hid the fair tremble in my voice. "I, Mikan Sakura—"

"Swear on blood oath that I will do my best—"

"Swear on blood oath that I will do my best—"

"To protect, to care, to nurture, to love—"

"To protect, to care, to nurture, to love—"

"The life that has been handed to me—"

"The life that has been handed to me—"

"And I will never cease to fulfill my duty for as long as I live."

"And I will never cease to fulfill my duty for as long as I live."

"Almost there," Mother whispered to me.

"I will not speak against the family name—"

"I will not speak against the family name—"

"Nor will I betray them."

"Nor will I betray them."

The Lord smiled. "And let my blood boil in my veins if I speak lies."

"Let my blood boil in my veins if I speak lies," I said, closing my eyes.

The Lord nodded in approval, turning to Father. "You have raised her well, Izumi."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Dave?" he called.

Father stepped back, making way for a for a butler that came from the line of butlers off to the side. He held a pearl white cushion in his hands which had a dagger resting upon it. The handle was painted in pure gold that shimmered, and midway was where an encrusted deep-crimson ruby laid, full of glory and fame. He dipped his head when I took the weapon in my hands.

"You will take that knife and use it to share your blood with my son. This is a pact that you must undergo." He stood up, the Mistress rising as well. "Bring him out."

I wasn't sure what I was expecting. When Mother said, "Oh, here comes the heartbreaker," I might have expected a God with the face of a heavenly cherub. But then I remembered how beautiful people intimidated me, and with new high hopes, I coaxed myself to expect a boy with many scars running across his face, a too-big-of-a-nose, chapped and dry lips, and maybe, for a bonus, monkey ears.

As I skimmed through all the possibilities running through my mind, I realized that my imagination can go on forever thinking about him, and whether he was exactly what I thought of him to be or not. Problem was, I wasn't sure what I was expecting.

A workaholic or a procrastinator.

Kind or evil.

Fair or unjust.

A ruler or a tyrant.

A Lord or a prince.

Dauntless or a coward.

And the two that only really mattered—whether he will bring out my insecurity or let it shy away behind my bravery where it belonged.

The heir was rarely outside the palace walls, and because of that, his identity had not been cleared to the Great Lands yet. Since he was next in line to rule, his life was always targeted and therefore, must always be protected, too. A person with eyes that had seen the heir in reality was not common. But it wasn't as if he lived in solidarity; he had his family members and his crew of maids and butlers. There were countless maids, occasionally butlers, who couldn't help but spread the word of that they had laid their sights on the heir himself, and what he looked liked, acted like, smelled like. The complication laid here—not everyone's stories correctly lined up. Some had said they wanted to faint out of happiness. Others ran away and vomited. The truth couldn't be exposed under these circumstances, so it had to stay hidden where it was.

But I—oh, lucky, lucky me—couldn't be under the same circumstances. At least, not anymore.

"Mikan Sakura, I present you my humble son, Natsume Hyuuga of the Hyuuga clan."

After I bowed along with Mother, Father, and all the others, I trailed my eyes slowly to him. They dragged along the concrete ground, then up the small group of steps that lead to the porch where the Hyuugas stood, and finally, my sights were on him.

...Heavens.

A prince? A Lord? A god? A monster? Intimidating, is he? No, none of the above. I couldn't explain the feeling—I couldn't explain _him. _Not because the words wouldn't come to me, but because they were all rushing in too fast that my brain couldn't process and make them into sentences briskly enough. And all those maids and butlers whose rumors I thought were nothing but garbage, I was urged to thank them for speaking the truth. I wanted to faint. I wanted to vomit.

I wanted to do both.

I couldn't rip my stare away from him as he stepped down the porch steps with grace and power I had never felt before. He was just so captivating, seeming as if he brought out the sun's light which had died just moments ago. His raven hair, his pale skin, his blunt expression that played so, so well on his face; I took in everything I can in each second, trying to materialize him in my mind so I wouldn't be surprised about it. Because if I didn't now, I might stutter at the last measures of this oath. How undignified.

It wasn't until he was inches away from me that I noticed his eyes. Red like the dagger's ruby. Red like the burning flames in a fire. Red like blood, and red like pain and beauty.

Dear God, guide me through this. He was just...so much more than what I expected. So much more.

"Mikan Sakura," spoke the Lord. I snapped out of my conscious state and attempted to focus as much as I can with this angel next to me. It was hard.

"Take the dagger and slit the skin on your wrist." I did so. "Natsume Hyuuga, my son. Take the dagger and slit the skin on your wrist."

His eyes didn't meet mine as he took the knife. They were pointed on the weapon, weapon only. _Stop. Stop,_ I told myself as my vision bore into the calm and indifferent face of the heir. _Look, he's not even looking at you. Do the same. _When he gave it back, I copied his actions and glued my eyes on the dagger. They instinctively traveled to the handle, then to the ruby which already reminded me of the heir's eyes, even when I only had a second to see them. This is extremely hard.

"Sakura Mikan. Take your blood, and hold it upon Natsume Hyuuga's own. This represents the unbreakable bond that will soon come into form between your two fates in the near future."

I bit the inside of my jaw as I held my dripping wrist above his. My blood slowly rode along my skin, accelerating only when it dropped onto Natsume Hyuuga's slit. It merged with his in a matter of seconds, sending chills down my spine when I couldn't differ my liquid from his.

"My son. If you will."

He mirrored my actions, though holding my forearm to steady my vigorously moving cut and when he did, I flinched at the sudden contact—warm, firm, and so steady as if this isn't something to be nervous about. I didn't even notice I was shaking this much. His blood, when it met mine, felt like a warm, slithering snake had wrapped its curved tongue around my wrist, cautiously and deadly. I gasped.

He didn't. He didn't do anything, show anything.

Mikan Sakura, I swear you are the most biggest fool.

"Good, good."

We both turned to face the Lord, side by side though not touching—_heavens no_—as he smiled down upon us, a smile that I couldn't return at the time. Mistress Kaoru, Mother, Father; they _all _smiled.

"Then, with the blood oath done and sealed, I, Akihiro Hyuuga, hereby declare Mikan Sakura of the Sakura clan as Natsume Hyuuga's sole protector."

Beside me, I felt the Young Lord stiffen at his father's words. He casted me a lazy glare - for what, I didn't know - and turned on his heels as he walked away.

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><p>Woahhh, sorry, it's pretty long. But if I tried to shorten it (which I did) it wasn't as good, so I just kept it the way it is. Haha sorryy! I hope you guys liked it, and I'll definitely come back with another exciting chapter. Thanks so much for reading, and please review!<p>

Stay smexy!


	2. Rough Beginnings

Hey! So I know it's been a whileeee...but I have a good excuse! I got a head start with this story so I could update more often.(: During the time that I wasn't updating I worked on this. So far, I'm at chapter ten already! Also, I changed the ending on the first chapter, so if you hadn't yet, go and read that. Thank you guys for being so patient. Enjoy!

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><p><em>You wanna show the world, but no one knows your name yet<em>  
><em>Wonder when and where and how you're gonna make it<em>  
><em>You know you can if you get the chance<em>  
><em>In your face as the door keeps slamming<em>  
><em>One Step At A Time <em>by Jordin Sparks

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><p><em>Chapter II: Rough Beginnings<em>

Unbelievable.

"This shoulder shall burden your responsibilities, and the consequences that will meet you if you fail to honor them," the Lord bellowed, touching the tip of the Dragon Sword on my right shoulder and then lifting it over my lowered head to skim my left. "And this shoulder shall burden the heir's responsibilities, and the consequences that will meet you if you fail to help him honor them."

It'd almost been a complete half minute since Natsume Hyuuga excused himself after the blood oath. Without so much of a word or greeting to me or anyone else, he returned to his quarters inside the palace. He left swiftly and unnervingly, closing the doors with soft slam that made the hair on my neck stand despite its feeble sound.

Really unbelievable.

I was not allowed to question his actions: it was one of the major rules of being a protector. So therefore, I of course was not allowed to show any retaliation when he disappeared. I was not allowed to question why he departed in the middle of this important ceremony, nor was I allowed to ask why he didn't stay to watch me officially get dubbed by his father. I was not allowed to question his authority and his right to go against the Ancient Scrolls that clearly stated the heir is obliged to linger until the very end of this initiation. I tried to lock my bewilderment seeping out of every pore in my body in, along with my rising anger that couldn't help but boil, even when it's not supposed to. If it's something I absolutely despised, it was when things didn't go the way I expected them to. I hated surprises.

But I couldn't do anything about it. The Mistress, the Lord, and also Mother and Father did not acknowledge his parting. They did not summon him back to my side, where he truthfully belonged at the moment. They didn't even seem to care, as if it's alright to continue without him.

So, with their unguided influence, I let it be.

It was then a velvet hue that colored the darkening sky. The sun had long gone into it's slumber, the gracious silver moon taking its spot in the sky so high above us. Its mysterious light shone down on those who appreciated it, avoiding those who did't care for it. It hit my arched back as I bent down on one knee in front of the Lord while he commenced with the final stage of the ceremony.

"I bestow upon you the Dragon Sword," the Lord boomed.

The Dragon Sword was the most well-known Hyuuga heirloom. It used to be locked away in one of the many basements one thousand feet below where I was kneeling, and with the fact that it's almost impossible to find, it's also well-guarded. One of the reasons why was because it was an irreplaceable treasure known for its mystical legends. Some had said only the protector of the heir could find it useful. Others had also said it had magical properties when it came to judging the hands of the bearer—whether they were worthy to wield it or not. I have heard some of the rumors, but those were the kind that were overlapped by the many other kinds, such as how beautiful it was.

It's a double-sided blade coated with rare poison even I didn't know about. It's a magnificent color of silver twilight, seemingly radiating wherever its exposed. The hilt was a whole glitter of pure gold, some modest rubies thrown in there to balance the quality. At the very end of the pommel was the Hyuuga initial engraved in a lenient capital H. Its scabbard was highly decorated with deep crimson colors at the locket and the chap, the middle being a gentle brown.

I was ever so fortunate to see this legendary heirloom with my own eyes, let alone wield it. I wondered how it would look while in the battlefield, shedding blood that matched it's primary color so well. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized the Hyuuga clan was the centroid for all ruby-reds. For all that mirrored war and beautiful glory.

"You will use this sword to protect the body, soul, and heart of the Heir, the Young Lord, Natsume Hyuuga," stated the Lord.

"Yes, my Lord."

"Mikan Lorel De'Sho Sakura of the Sakura clan of hidden ninjas, daughter of clan head Izumi Sakura and Lady Yuka Sakura, are you capable to take on this duty? Are you capable to burden this on your right shoulder, and burden the life of Natsume Hyuuga on your left?"

Don't stutter, don't stutter. "Yes, my Lord."

He lowered the tip of the sword below my chin, raising it as I rose my body until my feet were flat on the ground, my back was but a straight line, and my stare was boring into the honest eyes of the Lord of the Three Great Lands.

His reflection showed on the hilt of the Dragon Sword, moving onto the blade itself as he turned it vertical to hand it to me. "Please. My son's life is in your care."

I took it with as much pride as I can, flexing my muscles so that when the weight of the weapon hit my arms, it didn't make me look weak and vulnerable. "I will do my best, my Lord."

I imagined by now, Mother would have a tear rolling down her cheek carelessly, and Father would be smiling the proud smile of his I always thought about when I pictured this scene. Actually living it, actually feeling the accomplished emotions running around the grounds, I wouldn't have any other place I want to be.

I held the sword at the hilt with two firm hands, the tip slightly grazing the stone floor. I bowed. "Excuse me while I bid Mother and Father farewell."

He laid an approving hand on my left shoulder, the one that burdened the life of Natsume Hyuuga. "You have done your clan proud, Mikan Sakura. I expect to see great things from you."

"Thank you, my Lord. I will do my best."

When I turned around, Mother and Father were farther away than I thought. They positioned themselves by the edge of the Palace entrance stairs. And suddenly, I had a knot in my gut thinking about what I would do if they didn't hear the last exchange of words between me and the Lord, the set of words that mattered the most.

_"You have done your clan proud."_

_"I expect to see great things from you."_

"Mother, Father," I said after reaching them. Behind their backs was an excellent view of the land, and it took me a second to notice that staring at this picture-perfect beauty was not what I came here for. "Were you back here the entire time?"

"Oh, Mikan, my dear," Mother cooed, squeezing my hands with hers against the hilt, "Do not be disappointed. Your Father and I heard everything and every single syllable. Dear, I am so, so proud of you."

Father coughed. "Likewise. You do me honor, my child."

My parents—how I'm going to miss them so. "Are you traveling at night?"

"Yes. I'm afarid the head house will be ambushed tonight, and the clan needs us there to help defend."

"Ambushed?"

"But they're too late," Father added, sending me a wink. "My daughter has already been dubbed."

"Oh," I answered. I almost forgot that the Sakura clan was not a clan without jealousy and hatred shot towards them. Yes, we're powerful, and yes, we're the best there was, but that only meant we're dead-on targets for the highest positions. "Be safe."

"As with you, Mikan." Mother leaned forward to touch her lips to my forehead. "Don't be reckless."

"Yes, Mother."

"Yuka." The Mistress appeared beside me, her arms locked together in front of her to shield herself from the cold wind. The Lord also offered to help by wrapping a kind arm around her shoulders. She took it with a lazy smile. "Leaving already? It is awfully cold tonight. It will be no problem to stay until the sun rises and blesses you with its warmth."

"I agree," inserted the Lord.

"Your kindness is a blessing enough. We have to return for it's a high possibility the head house will be attacked before dawn's break."

"Oh," the Mistress said, cupping her O-shaped mouth with a hand. "We can send our guards as well?"

Mother almost looked offended. I could have said the same about Father. "Kaoru? Do you know who I am? I am Yuka Sakura, wife of the almighty Izumi, head Lady of the most powerful ninja clan. I have not grown delicate with just one birth, my dear friend. I am the same, fierce fighter I was back in the olden days."

Oh, God, how I was going to miss Mother. I wanted to laugh, but before so much of a snicker escaped me, Mistress was already holding her stomach as she curled into a half-ball with knees bent. "Oh, Yuka!" she exclaimed through her guffaws. "This is why I have stayed by you all these years."

She grinned triumphantly. "As with you, Kaoru. Now, we must leave."

"Yes, yes," she replied, wiping a humorous tear off her tear duct while she held the laughter in to calm herself down.

"I'll make sure she's okay after this," the Lord said as he smiled apologetically to Mother and Father. "Have a safe trip, Head Izumi and Mistress Yuka."

They bowed and curtsied. "We hope our daughter is be of use," they said in unison.

"That is already a guarantee."

Before leaving, Mother gave me another kiss on head head and the cheek, bringing me back into the reality of that this might be the last I'll see of them until I'm a grown woman.

This dreaded thought must've showed on my face because the next minute, I was buried into this familiar warmth that I haven't gotten to know yet, but was so sure it was Father hugging me.

"My child," he whispered, somewhere above me. "You will become a legend. Be strong, and you'll be fine."

My arms remained glued to focusing on holding the Dragon Sword, so I couldn't hug him back. But I made sure my words conveyed my gratitude. "Goodbye, Father."

"Goodbye, Mikan."

While they leaped away into the night, I hovered in the same spot, clutching the sword hilt to my chest as I watched their silhouettes grow smaller and smaller in the distance as well as their ringing laughter.

"Sensei, you're too fast!" I heard Mother say.

"What? I thought you were the same fierce fighter, Yuka?"

"Sensei!"

I must remember to thank Toshiro for nurturing my ears into this superhuman state.

When their shadows couldn't be visible anymore, something in my inner soul made my heart ache as a tired sigh ruptured from within me.

"You know," the Mistress said, touching her arm to mine which sent hot vibes down my skin. It reminded of when the heir grabbed my forearm; how his hold was so lucid, as if he was made of pure lava. "Those two hated each other at the start."

"Mistress?"

She looked at me, making me instantly reminisince her irises. Huh, so Natsume Hyuuga had her eyes. "She was in his class when Izumi taught at a school in one of the villages in the Third Land. You can tell by first impression that two people couldn't hate each other anymore than they did then, but I, being your mother's closest friend, knew something was going on. Sure enough, they married a couple years later, and you, Mikan, you are the result of their beautiful love."

"If you have any insecurities," the Lord said, also appearing to my other side, "don't. Have confidence as if you were Izumi himself. We will do our best to help you become accustomed to the Hyuuga household."

"Thank you," I said. And I really was. My entire life I've been traveling around the world, fighting off bandits and arrows and swords of all customs, but never once in my sixteen years have I gone anywhere without any of my clan members. Toshiro had always accompanied me. Sometimes, Keel and Fiora would too.

But now, now that I was alone, what do I do? How would I know if I was doing something right? Or worse; something wrong? There's a four-hour gap between me and my family, and I wasn't so sure I could've coped with that straight away.

Though, looking at the Mistress, or the Lord, and hearing of how often they say my parent's names eased my anxious nerves. Maybe it will take some time for me to get used to the way how things drifted, but I was prepared for this, and at least I'm being treated as an honorable slave.

"Thank you," I said again. "Mistress, Lord."

The Mistress smiled a smile that parred with the passion of her burning eyes and beckoned with her finger for me to follow her. "Come, child. We must have a talk with my stupid son."

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><p>The Great Palace was as magnificent as the people, stories, and fables spoke of. While one sense of me kept close behind the Mistress and the Lord to make sure I don't lose sight of them, another lingered around, gazing at the high ceilings that floated way above my head, the mahogany floor that reflected my dim reflection, the light that shone in all the right places, the statues, ornaments, plants, and other decorations that complimented each spot it was assigned to, and lastly, the feel of it all. It was just so homely. It felt so warm and welcoming, there were multiple times when for a second, I thought I was home.<p>

The Young Lord's room, which was where we were walking to, was placed in the far left norner of the palace. It pointed in the division of the Second and First Land, pieces of earth that was described as a natural heaven. I bet the view was spectacular.

Once we reached it, the Mistress made no attempt to knock, sliding the screen door until the end hits the wall in a terrible slam. She barged inside the multitudes of spacious rooms, flicking her eyes left and right.

"Natsume!" she bellowed.

The Lord also stepped in, but in a more civil manner, as he nodded for me to come in as well. "Please."

I bowed. "Thank you, Lord."

We watched from the sidelines as the Mistress charged into each of the rooms, coming back out in a second, empty-handed, with her fury growing larger and larger. She racked in the closets, the bathrooms, and anywhere else she thought would have been able fit the Young Lord's body.

"Aki! Mind to lift those hands of yours and put them use? Help me find that ignorant child," she called without making contact.

"My Love? Have you—"

"Honestly! Walking out of the ceremony like that..." she mumbled as she worked her way across the floor, still searching. "The nerves!"

"Kaoru?"

She stopped, finally, and looked at him with her hands on her hips. "What is it?"

"Did you look in the balcony?" He pointed a finger straight ahead, where the door was slightly pulled open. From the tiny crevice, the light from the moon shone in on the floor and bolted to the ceiling. "He's always out there whenever I come here at night."

She threw her arms in the air with exaggeration. "Well, why didn't you mention that earlier?" And before the Lord can start defending himself, the Mistress was already charging up in the designated direction. She slid the screen to its full rift with much eager force. "Natsume!"

The Lord and I were coming up behind her, and it wasn't even half of a millisecond that I started to almost _die _because of the sight that laid in my vision.

Maybe it was the glorious moonlight that made it seem much more than what it actually was, but the land, right then, held such pulchritude that I didn't know had existed. The light purple miles stretched farther than I could have counedt, different variations of black, violet, and grey coloring the shadows that lurked in the dead of the night. Off in the distance, though it wasn't as visible as in the day, I spotted the wide, twinkling river that separated the Second and Third Land. It snaked around the curves and twists of the earth, flowing with the lives that depended on its containments.

"Natsume! Come down from there!"

I turned my attention to this large, very gracious cherry blossom tree that stood closely to the edge of the fenceless porch, it's body even touching it. The tree was at its mature state, growing and glowing and showing off its brilliant color. The petals were but a lustrous shade of pink and blush, hundreds falling off the branches as the wind caressed them and let them ride on its wings.

Never had I seen it rain rouge-hued flowers.

And if I squinted and concentrated really hard, I could see a body resting upon one of the great branches behind all the petals that fluttered in my eyes. This body was sitting so carelessly with one leg hanging out and one sprouted up to support his elbow, his gaze directed into the vast unknown. I didn't blame him; I would, as well, if I could.

The more I stared, the more the structure became familiar. The profile of his jaw, the sturdy sturdy shoulders that told of defined muscles that followed after it, the angular hands that rolled into a loose fist, the raven black hair that couldn't help but to dance in the air, and when he slowly turned to look at us, I noticed the beastly red eyes—the eyes of a monster, but held a guarded passion that of a celestial being.

"Natsume!" the Mistress shouted, craning her head up to him. "A word, _your highness_?"

He took his sweet time to glance forth at her, to I, to his honorable father, and then back to the Mistress. Shrugging his shoulders, he held the branch with his hands and leaped off it in a graceful minute. On instinct, my legs immediately rushed forward as my arms shot out to the trajectory where I would catch him, but he glided above my head in ease and landed on his two feet without so much of a soft thump. I tucked my arms back to my sides, bowing to him as he stood before me. He loomed a good foot and a half.

"Mother," he said, his voice ringing low, not acknowlodging me.

She scrutinized him, as I felt the blazing burn in her stare. "My son. Must I remind you of the Ancient Scrolls?" He shook his head. "Well," she continued, "then enthuse me of a fine reason of why you excused yourself in the midst of Lady Mikan Sakura's ceremony."

"I wasn't needed."

"Who told you of such absurdity?"

"My intelligence."

She glowered the second his answer came out. "I request you do not take its advice ever again." The Young Lord made no attempts to speak back as he feebly stared at her. "It is your job to see through its end, for this is the person who is giving up her life for yours. The least you can do is show your respect for her and what she has commited to."

"Kaoru-"

"Haven't I taught you to treasure what you recieve, despite the value? Honestly. Someday, when you're looking upon her grave, you will feel the guilt that will feed your regret, my son."

"Mother, if you are implying that she is going to die, I suggest you do not imply in her presence," the Young Lord commented, jabbing a thumb at me. My muscles tightened. I wasn't even thinking of it that way.

The Mistress quickly pinched her lips as ounces of concern caked her expression. "No. No, that is not what I meant at all, Mikan." She propped a hand on her waist as one shot up to gently rub her temple. "Natsume, stop being so difficult. We talked before, had we not? You promised you would be on your best behavior and follow as the Ancient Scrolls says."

"And its says that I am necessary till I deem my guidance unnecessary."

"You deemed too early."

"And you are scolding too late."

"Natsume, please, stop being so-"

"Difficult?" he finished, leaning towards me. It was only after I moved out of his incoming way did I realize his intention was to lean against the tree. He intertwined his arms across his chest as the tip his shoulder skimmed the dark brown bark. "With all do respect, Mother, I'm sixteen. You can't call my actions difficult. I am merely exercising my power as a upbringing Lord."

"Natsu-"

"Oh, oh!" the Lord interrupted, at last stepping in the conflict which he should've done so sooner. He patted a hand around the Mistress's waist to hold her back. "It has been a long day for everyone, and especially for Mikan with her four-hour travel here. I doubt she had anytime to rest. I say we each get a good night rest, then we'll talk about this tomorrow, shall we?" He sent the Mistress a look that probably only the two of them know of. She glared back into his eyes, challenging him with every tenacity she has.

But when the Lord nodded to me, sending her gaze to mine, she became tender as her mouth quaevered and her eyelids met in a thin line. "Alright."

He smiled a big, bright smile that he passed to all of us. "Thank the Heavens! My legs are _killing_ me." He pulled her with him as they swirled and began to exit the porch. "Goodnight, Natsume."

"Goodnight, Father."

"But, Natsume," the Mistress said, looking back and writhing away as the Lord sighed in frusteration, "Don't you dare run away into the town again just to escape this. You worry me so when you do that unbreakable habit of yours. Promise me? "

The Young Lord closed his eyes and bent his chin low. "Goodnight, Mother."

"Goodnight, my son."

The soft pitter-patter of the Mistress and Lord's bare feet lessened with each step they took closer to the door that led out of this room. They were still bickering, yes, but they did so in hushed voices, comtemplating many topics. They were topics such as Natsume Hyuuga, myself, even where I would go tonight. I gripped the sword tighter when I heard them say, "She just had to get the worst of them all." After their bodies disappeared into hallway and the Lord slid the door closed, I turned to the Young Lord, who, I had obviously noticed, had his eyes on me this whole time. It would be simple ignorance to act like I didn't have any knowledge of it, since it was practically halfway done scorching a hole though my brain.

When we clash encountered (it was bewilderingly of a bland clash) hazel met these too-fierce of a red color, but only on him did it seem to fit so wonderfully well in the globe of human eyes.

I got down on one knee, dropped the Dragon sword in front of me, and held my right hand over my heart. "Young Lord," I said, dipping my head so it almost touched the blade, "I am Mikan Sakura, daughter of the head of the Sakura cla-"

"I know who you are."

I almost raised to look at him. Almost. Thank God I didn't. "My apologies."

"Why are you still here?"

Trying not to take personal offense to it, I replied, "I thought introducing myself was a must." Was I expected to trail after the Mistress and Lord? Was I expected to remain here and give my name to who owns it? Keel, Fiora, and Toshiro no longer watch over me, so I did what I judged was best. I just hoped it was righteous.

There was a brief moment of silence, which he then speedily broke the pause, saying it so boldy, "So, you're supposed to protect me?"

"Yes, and I wi-"

Before I touched the last syllables of my sentence, there was a split second when I felt a strong jostle approaching me. Opening my eyes, I realized it was the heir, who swooped down and grabbed me by the collar without giving me time to process the unexpected turn of events. He pulled my neck into the air and then slammed it into the wooden floor, drumming a loud buzz in my ears. I inched my head as far up as I can so the impact won't be as damaging to my brain. My spine immediately revved its sockets into self-secure mode. His legs pillared on their knees on each side of my body, ready to trap any imcoming blows from me if I decide to fight back. Even in this situation I had enough reason not to, mostly because the standards of my duty prevents me from doing so. His hand, the hand that wasn't coiled around the fabric of my collar, prisoned my wrist that instinctly grabbed the Dragon Sword. I held on to the cold metal so hard I felt the tendons in my fingers strain. His grip tightened as mine on the hilt loosened.

Remember, I was not allowed to question his acts, for it was one of the major rules to being a protector. So, of course, I did not see this coming.

For one; I would have never thought that the person I'm protecting would so much hold my life at risk. Two; he was quick - quicker than what I normally train with for surprise ambushes.

_Do not attack. Do not attack. _I clenched my teeth each time my devil side said _do attack, do attack. _The funny thing was, I felt myself use my full force every other second, trying with all my might to overturn him, but our position never wavered. There was something that told me it wasn't just my restraints that caused me to be so vulnerable. Something else told me it was the Young Lord, and how his power overlapped mine.

But that's impossible, right? Because I'm the one who should be stronger. I can't protect someone whom I can't even defeat.

My sight focused behind his head, where the cherry blossom tree glowed bright, seeming as if its laughing as what it had just witnessed, and where the dark sky and the moon could be as visible as a clear arrow. I focused back to the man who was on top of me, his hair blending in the night but also shining as the moonlight dripped on the jet-black strands that flowed down. It created beautiful shadows in his equally beautiful face, giving me the opportunity to recognize the perfections, the imperfections, the dips and the rises on his skin. His shirt, because of the will of gravity, was no longer hugging his torso as tightly as it used to, and as much as it made me resent myself, I spotted the collarbones that formed at the base of his neck. It was just a brief glance when I caught the sight of his chest - well-defined and firm.

When I met his eyes, they held no desire for gore or kill, or anything that my ninja blood will only react to. They held of indifference, peace, might. And judgement.

"Hm," he murmured lowly, sending a look to where my fingertips met the sword. He smirked. And scoffed. And scowled. And then, back to nothing with his expressionless facade. "That was kinda a slow reaction."

"Is this a test?" I asked.

"No." He released my collar, as well as any other parts that he was under control of, and raised himself up on his feet, brushing his knees and hands. I did the same, but I stood as unmoving as a statue as I waited for his response. "Just a greeting."

I peered at him, suspicious of the truth behind his words.

_It's a test. _

I bent my knees to pick up the sword. _Bad idea. Bad idea alert._ It weighed instantly onto my muscles, causing them to expand and retract. "Then-"

It took 3 swift steps, two attempts to jail the heir by the collar - similar to what he did to mine - and one dodge from him as he tried to defend himself at the last second. I charged so fast that even my vision became blurry. The next time that everything stood still, I was half an inch away from his face, both our eyes battling with one another. There was a sharp blade held against his neck with my strong hand found at the hilt of the perpatrator. It didn't graze him the slightest, but it loomed dangerously close. His hot breathe skimmed the bridge of my nose, and mine kissed the underlip of his chin. The flash of silver that stood between us was then an insignificant article for we were too busy taking in each other to acknowledge it.

He looked down into my eyes with a passive attention, as I up to him with a laughing, nervous ease. _Such a bad idea, but such a good feeling._ I didn't flinch at the hard glare he sent at me, nor was I fazed at how calm and collected it seemed - I was just mocked; I needed to make sure that he knew I was far too superior for the word.

"It is my greatest pleausure to meet you," I finished.

He flicked my hand away from his shirt, pushing me a step back to which I could not reach him anymore. I let the sword swing back to my side. Such a pity; not even the tiniest bit of emotion came upon him.

He smirked once more. "First day here," he said, "and I already want it to be your last."

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><p>There you go! All my chapters are going to be this long, and if not, longer. I hope you guys liked this because I spent SOOOO many hours on these kinds of descriptive chapters. Thank you for ready, and please leave a review.<p>

Stay smexy!


	3. Nice To Meet You's

So here's another chapter!(:  
>Oh God, thank you guys SO MUCH for your reviews. I wasn't expecting so many! :O They really keep my motivated to continue with the story, so keep 'em coming!<p>

Xim-no-writerX  
><span>Maria-Reynne<span>  
><span>chainedheart999<span>  
><span>Devious<span>  
><span>Night. Rose. Angel<span>  
><span>anim3gurl<span>  
><span>Animegirlfreak17<span>  
><span>pwenie (thank you, you have been with me even in my past stories!)<span>  
><span>An0nym0us r3vi3w3r <span>  
><span>Kyra Raquiel <span>  
><span>m<span>  
><span>CrackleGirl11 <span>

Thank you guys especially for your amazing reviews and criticism, and because of you I strive to make this story the best I possibly can. I hope you will all stay with me throughout this journey.

Hope you enjoy!

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><p><em>Who cares if you disagree<em>  
><em>You are not me<em>  
><em>Who made you king of anything?<em>  
><em>So you dare tell me who to be<em>  
><em>Who died<em>  
><em>And made you king of anything?<em>  
><em>King of Anything <em>by Sarah Bareilles

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><p><em>Chapter III: Nice To Meet You's<em>

That night I slept peacefully.

I was given my first order as a protector, and that was to be posted in front of Natsume Hyuuga's room all night. I could not sleep, and I'd have the unwanted pleasure of burdening failure if I let drowsiness invade my mind. I was also told to have my sword with me as if it was my heart. The Lord said his son was a common target for night predators—he didn't have to tell me that this was a job I'd have to execute flawlessly. If such flaws were made, it would result to the death of the heir, and that's the one outcome I would never come near in my entire life.

So, in a way, sleeping peacefully for a protector was standing guard without actually having to pull out your sword.

And despite the lack of action, sitting in quiet darkness for many, many hours wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. It was weird. Ever since I was in diapers I was always known as the jitterbug in my clan. The assasin who could be everything but silent. When I was fourteen, Toshiro really hammered me about this aspect of mine. He said that I needed to rid of this habit for it's a useless trait that wouldn't benefit me as a protector. I'd so far managed to tame it, but this was the first time I had to really be serious about it. Toshiro forgave my mistakes; death, which was where circumstances would lead to if I slipped up, wasn't as generous.

I thought about things to keep me occupied. I recapped the whole day, scolding myself when I stumbled upon scenes I figured were too unprofessional of me. Like of the time I hesitated when I first met the heir. It was undeniable that my heart skipped a few beats, but that I blamed my female gender for. I had no excuses for when I made my entrance seconds earlier than what Father instructed, or for when I gasped during the Blood Oath.

Mistakes. Careless mistakes.

But along with the mistakes, dare I say, came highlights that I just had to rewind in my mind.

Mikan, good job for earning personal praises from the Lord.

Mikan, good job for pulling through the ceremony with a small amount of wrong-doings when in reality, you know very well you prepared yourself for worse terms.

Mikan, good job for showering your parents in glorified pride.

Good job for doing the same for the clan.

Whether it was minutes or hours, I raced my mind through my thoughts, collecting, organizing, and sometimes, smiling to myself when I remembered something worthy enough to smile about. The next thing I was aware of was that daybreak had hit the sky behind the windows. It changed from a dark hue of purple haze to a very subtle, very fiery red-orange. As everything else that had been in my surroundings lately, it was gorgeous.

One of the servants eventually came to the Young Lord's door with a tray full of exquisite food. My mouth watered from just the alluring smell, and it watered twice as much as I daydreamed about how its delicious taste would melt on my tongue once I took a bite.

_"Mikan," _I remembered Toshiro saying to me one day,_ "a protector must always test her master's food, just in case it is posioned. This includes his breakfast, lunch, dinner, and anything in between."_

"May I?" I asked. The servant nodded. It wasn't like he had a choice, anyways.

I popped a small ration from each of the four dishes, chewing carefully and analyzing every content that had been mushed up together in the pieces of meat and fruits. I was tempted to go at it another round, but that would've been to obvious. The servant would report me of thievery.

I licked my fingers clean after sample tasting. I decided that the whole entre was not poisoned. "You may go in." I stepped aside from the door to let him bring it in for the heir.

The servant was a young, blonde-haired boy. Probably no older than me, even. The one detail that made me curious about him was he kept smiling at me, even as I tasted the food. I made sure nothing unnecessary was drifting on my face, so I had no idea what was wrong with his mouth.

It kind of bugged me.

I kept my ears open and near the door after he entered inside. "Young Lord." His voice was muffled by the screen that stood between me and him. He walked further in, making soft thumps as he did. "Young Lord, please arise. I have brought you breakfast."

I had to lean in closer to hear better. I guessed they were all the way across the room. There was a distinct hint of someone talking, but I couldn't catch it well enough.

"Yes," the servant boy answered. "It's your favorite, made by Narumi."

"...it." I heard the last word, barely, but the beginning of the sentence was too soft. And I had exceptional ears to boot.

"Oh, come now. It's not poisoned. You can ask your guard outside. She tested it."

"She did?" the Young Lord asked, sounding displeased.

"Yes, and she looked like she wanted more than the tiny bits she got." My cheeks flushed at this. With the way he displayed his eyes, who knew the boy could be so observant.

Someone grunted. "Whatever. Give it here." The apparent tone in his voice suggested he was annoyed. Part of me wanted to apologize. Get down on my knees and beg for forgiveness. Another part, though a small, small section, wanted _him_ to apologize for treating my actions as if it were an inconvinience. I was supposed to taste it. If I hadn't, what would I do if the food has been poisoned? What would _you _do, Young Lord?

But, this I always must remember, I musn't question him. He was my superior. I have been raised far too well to doubt the doings of whom I served under—of whom I now shared blood relations with.

Huh. I had almost forgotten that.

Leaning my back against the door, I raised my arm to my face. Somewhere in one of its veins, somewhere beneath the skin and layers of flesh that draped upon the bones was the Young Lord's flowing blood. Fresh and ripely red. If I concentrated hard enough, it's as if I could trace the path of the droplets of his beings; like they left hot, scorching marks wherever they traveled to. I felt as if my entire arm was on fire and the healed cut was the eye.

_Bang!_

But after hearing dishes shatter loudly on the floor, the thought subsided and I instantly found my arm already pushing the screen door open. I slid it with force I put too much strength into that I was afraid I would break. But that didn't matter. Nothing mattered besides keeping the Young Lord safe.

Once I was in the room, it took no longer than a second for me to spot where the servant and Young Lord were. The two placed themselves out on the porch—that's the second time I've found the Young Lord there—but their positions didn't exactly put my mind at ease like I secretly hoped it would. It did the opposite.

The servant kneeled on a knee beside the Young Lord. His arms looped around the Young Lord's neck, his fingers locking together at a point where they met. The Young Lord, shoulder down, lay limp and powerless, no sign of struggle coming from him. One arm, though, was propped up on an elbow. When I saw that his eyes were open, a breath of relief rivered through me. Thank God, he wasn't not dead.

Not a lot of distance from them was an empty tray turned upside down. Broken pieces of glass and plates were spread, along with colorful dots of messily thrown food. For a second, I pictured this as an innocent brawl between brothers. I almost even expected a doting mother to come out and scold them. But, I knew, that was not the case. And they were not brothers.

Fueled with influence, my legs began sprinting towards them. My hands were readily strecthed out as I charged, a plan to finish the servant off already popping into my mind. When I was the nearest I could be, I jumped in the air and tackled the boy away from the Young Lord. The boy let out a surprised, strained yelp that was quickly cut off once my fingers tightened their hold around his collar. We skidded across the wooden floor, me on top of him, with a speed that can easily make us end up falling from the edge of the porch and falling to our deaths. But as the servant wailed his arms in a frantic manner, we slowed down to a point where we were safe from dropping. I didn't care. I knew how to avoid dying every possible way, and hopefully, this guy didn't.

"W-What?" he managed to exclaim.

I unsheated the Dragon Sword from my waist, bringing the tip below his chin. "You dare attack him in broad daylight?"

"Broad dayli—_what_?" His voice was rising.

I knocked his head on the floor twice, and stopped when I figured he saw stars. "Big mistake," I hissed. "Because now, you're atoning it with your life."

I drew my entire arm back, holding the sword high up in the sky so I'd have more power once I strike it down. The servant shut his eyes and pinched his lips, and I realized, even in this situation, he hasn't stopped smiling. Killing him grew and grew more as a pleasure.

I was ready to bury the blade into the boy's flesh when a hand grabbed my wrist and captured it. I attempted to wriggle of the hold. Once, twice; only the third try told me it was futile.

I looked up to see whose hand it was. "Young lord." Before the name escaped my mouth, I already knew this. Somehow, I already knew this.

"What the hell are you doing?"

He towered over us, his sleeping kimino off and unproper. The top half was not covering his shoulders or chest like it should've. It draped another layer on his legs as it was measly held up by the thin, red waistband. The morning sun greeted his skin in a way that it blinded me when I turned around.

"Don't worry," I said confidently. "I won't let him hurt you."

He rolled his eyes, and I furrowed my brows together at his unappreciative gesture.

"Get off him," he commanded, sighing through his words. He pulled me up so suddenly that I couldn't help but be dragged onto my feet. I wobbled to regain balance at first, and when I did, my eyes bore into the Young Lord own globes. Despite the early hour, they were as marvelous as ever. "Drop it." He nodded at the sword.

_Don't question him, don't question him, don't question him._

As metal met wood, a steely, frightening sound rang. I clenched my hand at the now valid space between my palm and fingers. "Is there something wrong?"

"You were going to kill him."

"Of course. If not, he would've killed you."

"Woah, woah. Wait!" We directed our attention back to the servant, who scrambled to stand on his shaking knees. "I wasn't going to kill anyone!"

I took a few steps towards him. He flinched at my menacing demanor, no matter of the fact that I was of smaller structure. And yet, with my face leaning into his, with my hands obviously prepared to strike, with my eyes so determined, this boy's smile never faltered. Never wavered. Never failed to shine. "Don't lie to me, bastard. The evidence is clear, and you have no way to hide it."

He shook his hands in front of his chest. "W-what? No, really! We were just messing around!"

"I told you lying is useless."

"I'm not lying, I swear! R-Right, Natsume?"

I whipped back around to the Young Lord, my brows slightly raised. "Natsume?" How improper—calling him by his first name. I thought at this the Young Lord would finally allow me to execute the slaying, so I bent my knees to pick the sword back up in my hold. But halfway, he sighed, coaxing to leave the blade where it laid. I stood up and straightened my spine again. I scowled at how my hands were empty and weaponless in the presence of an enemy.

"Koko. Only when we're alone can you call be by my name." He looped his arms across each other. "Go. Clean the mess. I'll deal with her."

The servant shifted his gaze from the Young Lord, to me, and to the now-barren breakfast. With each look towards each of the subjects, his anxiety lessened rapidly. "Okay," he said, relieved but still worried. "But seriously, Nats—...Young Lord, prove my innocence, please. I don't care for that bodyguard of yours to kill me in my sleep." I tried not to take offense. I was what I was, and he's right: an assasin who got her target whichever way she had to, even if it meant using dirty, underhanded tricks.

"Just go, Koko."

"Alright—" he bowed at his master "—Young Lord." Then, surprising me a little, he also bowed for me. "Lady."

_I almost killed you. _"Servant," I replied, though without moving. My stare burned into his, as I was the first to break it. But I didn't look away from him. Rather, I checked to be sure he still had that stupid, idiotic grin nailed on his face. He did.

I supposed my expression was frightening—I wouldn't know—because the servant flinched and was then in a hasty hurry to do as he was told. Making a shallow basket out of the cloth from his kimono, he scooped up the broken pieces of glass and food and dropped them into the hollow base.

"Now," the Young Lord spoke, bringing my focus back to himself, "explain."

"Explain what?"

He glared. "Why the hell you barged into my room."

"That was bec—"

"I did not give you permission."

I took a step back. With arms straight and jawline hard, I bowed. "I'm sorry, it was inproper of me—"

"Damn straight it was."

"- Young Lord, but the servant was going to take your life," I said, ignoring his interruption. "I had to take action."

"I said I wasn't going to kill him! We were only having a friendly brawl!"

"Koko."

"Geez!" the servant lastly exclaimed, muttering to himself a few words of self-comfort that rode along the lines of '_I don't kill' _and nonsense of the sort.

"Look, let's get something understood." The Young Lord stepped closer to me, bringing his face uncomfortably near mine. "The fact that you're my protector is bullshit to me. If I had it my way, you wouldn't be here. But I don't. At least, not yet. For now, you will only draw your sword when I order it."

The more I listened quietly the harder it got to stand my ground; to not question him or his unreasonable requests. We stared at one another for the time being. Of course, I was well aware that my eyes battled with his, but it's not my intention. All the years I'd spent killing and taking lives had only resulted to my wild side—rebellious and always wanting to be free. After all, I was the jitterbug of my clan. It's unnatural—to me, anyways—to simply take what was given.

It's like offering poison to a starving man. Ridiculous. "I understand, Young Lord," I replied, "but ma—"

"Shut up. No but's."

"Then let me rephrase it: I understand, Young Lord. May I ask, please, what am I to do when you cannot give the order and your life is in danger?" See, simple. I said no but's, and I wasn't not questioning his actions. I was questioning mine.

He cocked an eyebrow in a way that told me he was wondering whether this was a test or not. "I'll save myself."

"What if you're unable to?"

"I've been saving myself for the past sixteen years. I can do it for sixteen more. And sixteen more, and more, and so on. I'm not helpless."

"And I'm not implying that at all. I just think that as your protector—"

"Leave," he commanded, brushing past me, the servant, and coming to a halt adjacent to the big body of the Sakura tree. He tilted his chin high to look at the pink blossoms. "Don't come back after four hours or so."

I sighed. He was being so difficult. When I thought of the legendary Hyuuga heir, the words _respectful, polite, attentive, involved, kind, amiable, and courteous _popped in my head. The Hyuuga Heir that's beheld in front of my eyes were none of those.

But I couldn't change that; I couldn't change him. No matter how crushed and appauled my expectations of him were, this was reality, and I'd been ordered to give myself to this man. I didn't go against orders. Ever. Just because I had to act as a babysitter instead of the most prestigious duty that was out there did not mean I could ignore my superiors. Mother, Father, Toshiro, the clan, High Mistress, and the Lord all rode their bets on me. I'd have to die first before letting them down.

"Understood," I said. He began to climb, his arms and legs heaving his body up in a practiced, used routine. The bark was weared away at places he grabbed on with his feet and hands and for a minute, a thought ran through me—_How many times has he climbed this? _"Please be careful."

As I stepped out of his room, I held the door open for the servant who trudged close behind me, his hands busily supporting the ends of the front linen of his kimono that had the ruined contents in its middle. I instantly wanted to punch myself for jumping to conclusions when I saw his grateful eyes.

"Thanks," he said as I slid the door after him. "I appreciate it."

"My pleasure." For some, odd reason I started to follow him to wherever his next destination was. And for some, odder reason, he didn't seem to mind. "Do you need help with that?" Maybe it's because I felt like I needed to apologize.

"It's okay, I've got it."

"I'm sorry."

He gave me a sideway glance, which he returned in a mere second. "For what?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Attacking you. Killing you...almost. For thinking that you might kill your master."

Laughing, he answered, "You did nothing to be sorry for, Lady. If I was in your position, I'd probably do none differently."

"So, you forgive me?"

"I was never mad. I was just..._shocked, _basically. Anyone would be if someone just charged up to them and held a sword to their face. But I'm fine now. Don't take me as a fool for the fact that I am named his retainer—" Oh, so he wasn't a servant. That just proved how off I was about him, for a retainer was a close guardian of their master "—I know of your circumstances." He sent me a wink. "Natsume's protector, huh? It's going to be a hard road."

There it was again; a pang of doubt. It was clearly shown by the Heir's calm attitude that this retainer was no assasin to be concerned with, yet, I couldn't help but feel remorse inside. There's a likely chance it's because I'd been raised to never call my superiors by their given name. "Tell me, why do you call the young Lord '_Natsume'_?"

"Ah." He looked up and down the halls we passed, possibly eying for anyone that might come our way. Once he concluded that we're alone, he drew his mouth near my ear, and I was eager to lean in. I loved secrets, even if my lips couldn't be seal shut afterwards. "He's not permitted to," he whispered, "but he allows his personal servants to name him as such."

I scoffed. "That belittling himself."

"No. Maybe. He just hates being highly adressed. I think that's why he acts so hostile towards you. Hell, he acts hostile towards anyone, but you're special considering you're his protector. _Young Lord _this, _Young Lord_ that. Give it time, though, he usually takes his time breaking his new toys in."

"New toys?" I asked incredulously. "What do you mean?"

He clicked his tongue and shook his head, his gaze shifting uncomfortably on the ground. "I've said too much," he said through a breathe. "You'll just have to figure him out yourself, Lady."

"Oh. Oh, okay."

"By the way, I'm Kokoro Yume. Koko for short," he added, giving me one of his bright, star-like smiles. "Let's be friends. If you didn't know, friends _don't_ kill each other."

I had no choice but to return it with equal generosity. "Mikan Sakura. Pleasure to meet you. And I've already resolved you are no threat, so rest assured. I was just a little bit surprised—there I was, barging into the room and I find you choking him."

"Right, right. But it's true, I tell you," he rambled on, "that Natsume an—"

"I thought that you are only permitted to say his name when _you two _are alone, not when you're isolated with someone else? Um, Koko."

"Oh, damn. Right." He didn't seem to notice I called him on a familiar note. I smiled inwardly. _Koko. Koko. _I made a friend faster than I thought, and he was someone who was almost going to die by my hands earlier. "As I recalled before, the Young Lord and I were only fake-wrestling. You see, he's an arrogant guy, Lady. Just because I was messing around and licking his food, he had the initiative to throw it on the ground."

"You...licked his food?"

"It's not like my saliva's poisonous! Honestly, that man. Here I am, trying my best to act like a friend, a brother, and he restricts anything of the status. Why even allowing us to call you by your first name? Geez."

I pushed my hand into his kimono-basket and grabbed a chunk of meat. I popped it in my mouth. "Mm, delicious. Such a waste."

"Right?"

"But, I think you're to blame likewise. You shouldn't have licked his breakfast in the beginning."

"Oh, Lady. Only when you have gotten to know him all his life can you say that. I can't help it—no one can. He's so guarded and alone that you can't help but tease him. Ask anyone that have worked here long enough."

"I don't think I'll ever get that close to him. He's my superior," I said, fiddling with the hilt of the Dragon Sword on my right hip. I ran my thumb over and over the smooth surface of the ruby jewel that laid at the tip. "I've been raised differently than you, Koko. I bet I have."

"And I do too," he chimed, starting to eat the food remains as well. "Assasins and retainers are two very contrasted jobs, despite the many similarities. Is it hard?"

I reached for another bite. "What is?"

"You know, all the killing."

"No," I answered while chewing, "It's harder to let those who should be killed kill innocent people."

And that was my honest opinion. True, it was never a good feeling when I had to put more pressure into swinging my blade so that it would cleanly cut through one's flesh, but the blood that I had slain had already slain their own record-breaking amount.

"Well, that's good. You kill for the right reasons."

"Right."

"Never for the wrong."

"Right."

"But, you know, Lady, it's still never justice to judge a person worth. It's never justice to kill."

I hesitated, keeping a hovering thought inside my mind instead of speaking its words. "Where are we going?" I asked after minutes of silence. _It's never justice to kill_ . Who knew someone could ever be so brave as to say that in front of the strongest ninja out there.

"The kitchen." Koko ate the last piece of the Young Lord's disregarded breakfast as I licked my fingers which unconciously returned to Koko's pouch for more. "Lady Aoi must be up and active by this hour."

* * *

><p>"I'll be under you care from now on, Narumi Anju," I greeted, abruptly touching my chin to my chest.<p>

"Oh, please! Call me Naru like everyone else!" he called from over his shoulder as he expertly wielded the spatula to flip the fish. "And I'll call you Mikan, alright?"

I smiled, despite his back being turned to my direction. "Go ahead."

Koko came up behind me, slapping his hands together in a vertical manner to rid of the excess water. "Sorry, I had to go wash my hands. You've met Naru?" The bottom flap of his kimono was colorfully stained and tattered, probably the result from carrying the Young Lord's garbage.

"Just did."

Narumi Anju was a typical blonde, twenty-eight, happy-go-lucky man with deep, strong purple irises that gilttered in the shadows. From what I've watched from him so far, he was exceptionally skilled with a spatula. He seemed kind enough, though the reason why he wore frills at the bottom of his cuffs and apron was still unknown to me.

"He's the head chef around here," Koko complimented. He ran up behind Naru and slapped his back forcefully. "Yeah?"

Naru almost dropped the fish, catching it with no more than a millisecond to spare. "Koko, geez! I'm cooking here?" he exclamied.

"Mikan, as of this moment, you will feast like a queen! Everything this guy cooks is _so good, _you could die." Koko smacked the space between Naru's shoulder blades again. "But I think you already knew that."

I nodded my head in agreement, my mouth too engaged in tasting the delicious air that layered the thick oxygen.

We were in the royal kitchen, where the walls fly high and ceilings fly even higher. Running along the north and south walls were silver counters embedded with the family jewel. There were four stoves in total, each in their respective corners. And right down the middle of the room was a clear pathway for servants, maids, and butlers to walk through freely. The kitchen was a busy place, caked in smoke from cooking and smells from finished concoctions. Everywhere I turned to look, there were at least three people pushing against eachother to get by.

_Note to self: try not to eat breakfast often. You don't want to burden these workers by making them feed another stomach._

"He _what_?" Koko—...no, Naru exclaimed.

I returned my attention to them. Naru had suddenly grabbed a young servant boy out from a nearby crowd and ordered the underling to take over his fish as he led Koko to the nearest vacant spot in the area. He put his hands on his hips, his spatula sticking out, and he pouted. _Pouted?_

"Koko! How many times have I told you, stop messing with the Young Lord and his breakfast!"

"H-He's the one who threw it!"

"Yes, but I bet you provoked him." Naru held a finger up to his temple. "Oh, I spent so much time tenderizing the meat..."

"What's wrong?" I asked, walking to them while dodging obstacles that came at me at the same time.

"This brat—"Naru stretched his arm out and hooked it around Koko's neck "—has done it again!"

Koko wrestled with Naru's arm, trying to pry it off him. "It's not me," he choked, "the Young L-Lord just doesn't like Naru. And let go of me, damn it!"

"Oh, hush, boy. Everyone loves me!"

From an outsider's point of view, they looked like father and son. Best friends. Brothers. Their pure smiles only made my heart ache more; made me yearn for a friendly scrimmage with Toshiro like we used to, before I became a protector. How Koko mischievously smirked at Naru reminded me of the bond between the Dae'chi twins, Fiora and Keel. Actually, Koko himself was enough to fill the space in my heart in place for Keel. And then it dawned on me: no matter how much I tried or would try, I was going to miss them. I wondered if Lady Kish has delivered yet?

"Tell me Mikan," started Naru, "would you eat food that has been _saliva-ed_ on by a creature as mortifying as Koko?"

"...I wouldn't care for it, to be honest." _But I did eat some._

"Mikan!" yelped Koko, betrayal glowing in his irises. I stuck my tongue out at him playfully.

"See! See that, boy? It's your fault that the Young Lord won't eat my food! Not because he hates me! Which, I point out, is an untrue fact."

"Um," I said, "is this not the first that Koko has done this?"

"Nope, it began way back then. Ever since he was assigned as the Young Lord's retainer." Naru sighed and at last let go of Koko, who took a giant leap away while rubbing the skin around his neck. He stared at Naru with a menacing frown. "Six years ago."

"So why doesn't he just ask for a new attendant? Surely that would be no problem."

Koko flicked his glare to me, adding a bit of hurt in his pupil, as Naru was about to respond when a high-pitched, giggly shriek interrupted us. We perked our heads at the origin of the sound. Among the crowd, from the eastern wall entrance came skipping a skinny, pale girl dressed in fancy robes. Her violet-hued hair fell on her petite shoulders in a straight, scropped line with the fringes hanging a bit longer. When her fire-ruby eyes met mine, it was no wonder who this beautiful, young girl was.

The rushing workers intentionally made way for her though she still tried her best to dodge them. She came at a giddy halt in front of me, Naru, and Koko, her feet still bouncing on her heels. "Good morning!"

"Good morning, Lady," we said in unison, bowing.

"Lady Aoi, how many times must I instruct you to stay in your room for breakfast? The servants will bring it to you," said Naru.

"I know, I know. But I wanted to see my brother's protector first!" Without my consent she stepped closer to me, smiling a grin that would be enough to counter her blood relation to the broody Young Lord, and scoped my body vertically with a critical eye.

I had to notice: they were frighteningly similar to her brother's—bright, abysmal, crimson bloody—that I thought she, too, would belittle my being, so I triggered myself into perfect-example mode with my back straight, arms locked, knees tight, and chin high with aplomb. Who knew what it'd do to my ego if her expectations of me dropped like the Young Lord's, despite that I swore I would never let that happen. But, I needed to ask, why was she smiling? Why was she smiling so happily as if she just had a serendipity?

The crown of her head barely scrapes my chin as she quickly ran around my perimeter, scoping my back as well. When she returned to my front, she squealed, arms in the air, and jumped as she pulled me in for a hug.

"L-Lady?" I exclaimed.

"Oh, you're perfect! Just how I wished you would be!" She broke away, her hands still holding me by the shoulders. "You're going to be my big sister!"

My eyes bulged thirty acres wide. "S-Sister? Me?" The lack of enthusiasm in my voice obviously discouraged Lady Aoi, who furrowed her brows together at the midpoint of her forehead.

"You don't want to be?"

"It's n-not tha—"

"Lady Aoi!" a girl called. "Lady Aoi!" In the next second Lady Aoi's forearms were abruptly grasped onto by two hands that shot out from the crowd out of nowhere, forcing her to release me in the process. Due to shock, I instinctly reached for the Dragon Sword.

_You will only draw your sword when I order._

But thankfully, the Young Lord's words rang warning in my head just in time.

"Lady Aoi," the owner of the left hand said, "please don't go off running like that!" I trailed the arm up to the shoulder, then the neck, and finally to the face, which had mild pink tangles scaling the sides. Hm, pink hair. How unique.

"Yes, or else we'll get scolded by the Mistress. Again!" accompanied the right-hander. I followed the same steps as I had done so before, but instead of finding pink hair, I found a deep marine blue. Yet, it shone in its own unique way.

Both the girls, whom I'm guessing were Lady Aoi's retainers, had an uncanny resemblence to eachother that I just had to stare to search for differences.

"Stop being so dramatic, Nonoko," breathed Lady Aoi, bringing my omniscient focus back. "Mom doesn't scold."

"She doesn't scold _you,_ Lady."

"Meaning everyone. Hey, Anna, have you heard of Mikan Sakura?"

The pink-haired snatched a brief glance at me. "Mikan Sakura? The Young Lord's new protector?"

"Yup!"

"Rumors travel fast around here; of course I have." She bowed for me, putting forth another smile. "Lady Mikan, welcome to the Royal Palace. I'm Anna. This here is my sister Nonoko."

The blue-haired followed her sibling's beckoning motion, and also bowed for me. "Pleasure to meet you. And I think she forgot to add that we're twins."

I pulled the corners of my lips in an upward motion. "I guessed. Mikan Sakura. I'll be in your care."

"Isn't she beautiful and _perfect?_" said Lady Aoi, tugging my at sleeves. "Anna, Nonoko, she's going to be my big sister so I wan—"

"Alright, alright, Lady." The blue haired, Nonoko, untagled Lady Aoi's hands from my shirt and began to pull her away. "But you're not out of trouble. You're going back to your room like a good girl should, okay?"

"But, Nonoko!"

"No but's, come quick—"

Nonoko never did get to finish that sentence, for all that was heard in the spacious room became instantly quiet, quiet as a cicada in the winter. There were only the soft, alarmed pitter-patter a pair of feet, abided by sharp ragged breaths that pierced the air like knives. Everyone froze before they even knew what has occured.

"Help!"

And, suddenly,

"Help!"

the hair on my arms stood as straight as a post, as my blood drove and coerced through my veins like a hurricane,

"Help, someone please, help! We're being attacked!"

because, like the back of my hand, I knew very well those were the sounds of a battle call.

* * *

><p>Oh deaar, a cliff hanger. Those are the <em>worst<em>! Only people with no hearts and kill babies would leave cliff hangers. I hate people like that, don't you?

(;

And don't worry, there's a good reason why Natsume hates her and Aoi loves her. You'll just have to wait and read to find out. :D

Thanks for reading, and review pleasee!


	4. First Bloodshed, Then Answers

_So, thirty reviews on just 3 chapters? I know that doesn't seem like a lot to some, but it's enough to make me PISS MY PANTS. _

_Really, thank you guys so much for your reviewing. The things you say inspire me to the point where I probably wouldn't be able to write this story._

_Thank you! And hope you like this chapter!_

* * *

><p><em>What doesn't kill you makes you stronger<br>Stand a little taller  
>Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone.<br>What doesn't kill you makes a fighter  
>Footsteps even lighter<em>

_- Stronger_ by Kelly Clarkson

* * *

><p><em>Chapter IV: First Bloodshed, Then Answers<em>

I was reasonable enough to ensure the safety of Lady Aoi before rushing out.

"Take her to her room," I instructed to Nonoko and Anna, who looked just as frantic as the others as soon as the news was announced. I pushed Lady Aoi to them and leaned closer so I could be sure they could hear me. "Call about three men to stand guard, or if you deem so, then call more. Just try to keep the amount low."

Anna was the first to grab hold of herself. "But, Lady—"

"No time. Go!"

Nonoko, after regaining her sense when a frightened worker bumped into her in the midst of the frenzy, tugged at her sister. "Come on, Anna! Get the Lady! Hurry!"

"Wait!" Lady Aoi called. She writhed away from her retainers to rush to my side. In desperation, she tugged on the helm of my pants and gripped my hand like it was my lifeline. "Are you going to be okay, Mikan?"

I smiled at her, or at least, I tried to smile the best grin I could at the moment, and patted her head. "I'll be fine." She gave my fingers a tight squeeze, and was then off weaving her way around the crowd with her retainers. Anna and Nonoko were giving it their all to shield the fragile child from accidental blows from the workers, whose hectic fists shot everywhere and at everyone. I was urged to command them to calm down so they could let the Lady pass in peace, but my eyes found the three as they exited the war zone that was the kitchen. Alright, save the Lady: check.

I quickly turned around on my heels. It took my eyes a second to find Naru and Koko among the rushing bodies, but eventually, I did. They, surprisingly, weren't shouting like every other person in the room, but rather were searching the near cabinets and ending up with various cooking tools in their hold.

"Naru! Koko!" I hollered.

They ran back to me, each hand of their's in possession of three sharp knives.

"Here," Naru said as he pushed his share of six in my arms. "Thought you'd need them." Shortly afterwards, Koko gave me his. Of course, with a reassuring smile as usual.

I stared at the kitchen utensils. Without a second thought, it was of no doubt that they were extremely sharp—sharp enough to the point where they could have been considered as weapons. "How did you..?" And I _did _need weapons.

"Help! Please, someone, quickly! Call the guards!" shouted the very voice that triggered this unnecessary swarm. Its words rang louder than any scream or yell in my ears.

As swift as my nimble fingers could, I tucked the knives for safe-keeping inside my thigh holsters. Counting them, my useful artilleries totaled to a number of fourteen; that would have had to do for now, unfortunately, since this surprise attack had cut me short of the time I required to access other weapons in the armory all the way on the opposite wing. It was okay, though, this was not my first raid.

I had been in many. _Far _too many raids that it was like sixth sense - common knowledge for me to know that invasions like these consisted of fifteen to twenty people. That back-up would come. That I had to change my fighting from stealth-like and quiet to brutal and fierce because rebels felt more anguished if they fought with someone who mirrored their stances and jabs.

Therefore, I knew best that two small daggers wouldn't cut it.

But thanks to Naru and Koko, it wasn't all I had anymore.

I beamed gratefully at them. "Thanks, these would seriously help." I pulled Koko to me and practically glued my mouth beside his ears. "Do me a favor and take Naru back with you to the Young Lord's room."

"You're not coming?"

"My job instructs me to protect the Young Lord, not stay by his side. If I go now, I can finish the invaders off much faster than letting them come to me. Who knows how many lives they would've taken by then."

He paused, allowing me to become aware of dishes shattering on the marble floors everywhere. "...He might be there, though," he suddenly murmured.

I waited for more, but that was all that came. "What? I couldn't hear you. Who might be there?"

One heartbeat, two heartbeats. One scream, two screams. "Nevermind," he said finally, shaking his messy golden head. "Sorry, I was thinking off track."

"But wh—"

"Should I call for men?"

I stared at him, half wanting to let him continue what he was saying. But under the given circumstances, I couldn't afford to linger on what he was already prepared to forget. Maybe, if I wouldn't forget, I'd pin him later about the matter. "You're a retainer, right?" I asked, slapping his cheek encouragingly. "You should know a few moves. And Naru; I think he'll be fine as long as he has his spatula. But if you guys need it, then yes, call for backup. It's just that the more men that tries to protect the Young Lord, the more vulnerable he becomes. Trust me on that."

"What are you going to do?" Koko inquired, already reaching for Naru to return alongside him. Inside I reminded myself to thank Koko for being so cooperative, especially at a time like this where almost no one else was.

"My duty, of course."

I briefly caught a glance of Koko parting his lips to say something in response, but my body had long gone done a 180 in the direction of the crier. I shoved many shoulders in my path, and I'm positive some of them I even knocked over. As I raced around the workers to not get caught in their flow, I noticed their eyes filled with terror, and their legs so strained to push themselves faster to be secured into safety. I bit my lip. Someday, someday I would have lived here long enough so that when another invasion like this occurs, they wouldn't be as scared. Not while I was here.

"Help! Guards, guards!" A short, stubby man whom I figured was the crier stood to my left.

I practically leaped the last five feet to get to him. I gripped his arm and turned him to face me. "Excuse me, sir," I began to say. He was sweaty, red, and obviously a victim of exhaustion. His hair stood on crazy waves on his half-bald scalp, drenched in his body's water and due to a minor cut, blood. The invaders must have been all the way at the other side of the palace for him to get this tired from running. Which meant, he had already alerted the places that came before the kitchen: the Young Lord's room and the throne room. He wasn't badly injured. There must've been guards fighting the criminals off. "Never mind," I finished, done with gathering the information I needed from him. "Be careful, and get these workers to stop screaming."

The words had barely escaped my lips when I found my feet running at full speed towards the other wing of the palace. Little by little, as the distance I ran escalated, the agonized yells and shrieks grew out of range. They became smaller, and quieter, and softer until all I could hear were the pounding of my hurried feet on the wooden hallway floors.

I touched the Dragon Sword at the holt to stop it bouncing against my hip. I frowned.

_For now, you will only draw your sword when I order it._

As much as I hated to abide by the rule, my superior's commands were absolute, and I would only come to resent myself if I dared break it. Even if it's in secret.

I'd live. I remembered how the Young Lord said he's gone sixteen years protecting himself, and he could do another. It's similar to me. I didn't have the Dragon Sword during my first mission. I also didn't have it during my first, _life-threatening _mission. Surely a feeble situation like this could be handled by knives and daggers.

Oddly enough, I didn't encounter other workers on my way to there and I should've, because the the corridor was one of the main corridors throughout the palace. Only my pounding boots, steady breath, and jangling weapons made my surroundings alive. No crickets, early birds, screams, or battle cries. I kept my senses alert and hands prepared to strike, though, just in case an ambush came at me.

I arrived at the scene with a time of two minutes and four seconds flat. I took no hesitation in that instant to analyze the situation of the assault.

And it didn't look too good.

Nineteen rebels still up. One down. Twenty in total. Had two swords each. From the glisten of their blade against the morning sun, they were poisoned. Faces painted. Hair covered by rags. Figuring out which clan they belonged to? Not possible yet.

Seventeen guards still up. Thirteen down. Thirty in total. Two poisoned swords each as well, along with an extra spear. Struggling. Weak. The huge, gaping hole in the wall told me that they weren't skilled enough to defend the palace from whoever these rebels were. Pitiful.

Smoke. Smog. Firecrackers exploding. From the looks of it, more rebels were coming in as back-up anytime soon. Despite that the palace guards outnumbered them by about one-third, the guards were slowly being defeated.

Damn, it did _not _look good.

Okay, so things weren't looking as bad as I expected. But then again, I kept my expectations low so when events turn for the worse, I wouldn't be as disappointed. This was a perfect example.

Before I heaved in the breath that would start my engine and send flying into the blood-soaked scene, a shimmer of a pure ebony hue caught my attention and caused my feet and movement to freeze in place. My gaze slowly, idly journeyed to the head—the body—in the midst of the battle who stuck out like a sour thumb the second I spotted him. His arms gracefully attacked with a single sword in its hold; his torso pivoted at the abs and the ankles twisted with expertise. I couldn't help but notice the tiny details, such as when sweat flew off his body, light poured onto it, making it seem like he glittered and shined out in daylight. He danced like a swan, moved like a cheetah, and killed like Satan's apostles as his blade thrusted into the beating hearts of his enemies, coming out with blood coating its silver glow. It all stopped and played out in slow motion in my eyes and I was thankful it did because I just had too speculate this great fighter.

This great fighter that I realized with terrible, shocking, _appalling_ terror was the Young Lord.

_"He might be there, though."_

Seeing the battle among the battlefield aroused my five senses and instincts to their limits, therefore allowing me to make the connections in a second's passing. _Koko. _I was _so_ going to kill him.

That was, if the hysteria didn't kill me first.

The initial half of the second gave me time to suck the anger and astonishment in.

_Why is he here?_

_Why is he fighting?_

_Why is it that no one is dragging him to custody?_

_Why are they not covering him at least?_

_...Why is he so gloriously beautiful while he slays?_

And the last-half-of-the-second is when I charged at him with all the strength I have focused to my legs. I absent-mindedly avoided, and if necessary, sliced, anyone who tried to block my way as my eyes trained themselves on the Young Lord so desperate to not let him out of my sight. I dug into my thigh holsters to bring out one of the knives that Koko and Naru luckily supplied me with and used it to choke off an attack directed to the Young Lord's as he was turned.

I landed behind him, drawing myself closer until our backs were touching each other. "Young Lord."

I felt his shoulder blade move against me as he rotated his arm to strike. "I can handle myself."

"What are you doing here? Please go back to your room." I extended a leg to kick a stomach whose face I was too busy kicking other's to acknowledge.

My disapproval rocketed when he dispatched himself from me and moved forward, continuing his killing streak. "I said I can handle myself," he repeated, raising his voice as we drifted farther apart. "I'm not a kid."

I stepped back a couple feet until my spine connected with his once more, resulting to his irritated sigh. "Young Lord, please quit being so stubborn and just go back to your room!"

"Stop yelling, idiot. I'm right here."

I didn't even have the time to be angry at his spiteful comment. "Young Lord!"

He grunted, probably because he had just punched someone square in the jaw, but no response even after waiting. "Young Lor - !" I hollered again, but was then cut short as I felt a pressuring hand _touching _me.

To my bewilderment, he hooked an arm around my waist faster than I would've thought a rebel would come at me, and brought his body to my front view. _What? What's going on? _Handling me as deadweight and setting his body in a perfect vertical line, his leg shot up in the air as the sole of his indoor slippers caught a wheezing arrow by the stem, preventing it from colliding with its victim. The broken arrow fell upon the floor beneath my feet, cracked in half. I sucked in my breath - I guessed, I positively guessed, its trajectory was my brain.

...Honestly? How could I have missed such a pronounced object, so out in the open?

As his foot touched back down on the floor, he touched my shoulder with his other arm to support himself. He brought his face closer, closer to mine, therefore giving my no choice but to spot the unfathomable, cardinal red that I come to search for every time I see him. At first, they lingered under his bottom lip, and after averting my confused stare, they were also near the globe of his nose, but they still weren't in their appropriate places. I redirected twice more.

Then it hit me. It was blood. His angelic, perfect, royal face was veiled in blood, and even when I finally did meet his eyes—which was what I was looking for—their color was no different.

"You know," he spoke, his breath skimming my forehead, "you say I can't protect myself. Maybe it's the other way around, huh?"

"I—" At such a time like this, my voice failed me. It rung commands for an army of vicious warriors, it rung in the sweet agony of a battle; it always rung whenever I decided it would. But at such a time like this, my voice had failed me. "I—" And when I looked at him, I realized why. The Young Lord's skin was spotted in the dirty blood of commoners', and in his background were only ghastly scenes that piqued my dread. Swords clashing, screams splitting, hearts breaking in half. Literally. He was in the first place where he didn't belong, and I was scared.

I was scared.

When invasions like these occurred, the Young Lord was supposed to be residing in his room, wherein he was under full watch of first-class retainers or soldiers. Eating, Bathing . Sleeping. Going on as if lives weren't being taken under the same roof. I was so scared. I'd failed to keep him in custody, failed to protect him from standing under the rain of red, so what if I fail to keep him _alive? _What leftover pride would I have to offer my clan to tell them I'd failed my duty?

"Hey!"

_"You have done you clan proud."_

_"I expect to see great things from you."_

_"Dear, I am so, so proud of you."_

_"You do me honor, my child."_

Would these voices be filled of nothing but regret? Regret in me, regret in themselves?

"Hey! You fucking idiot, wake up!"

Would that voice, before it's brought to its grave, feel regret too?

I dragged my eyes up from the ground (since when I have been staring at the floor; how long?) to see the sweaty shine of the Young Lord's back turned to me, the muscles lined and hard as he stood in a combat stance. I was clueless at was happening initially, but through the nape of his neck I witnessed as a shower of arrows crept upon our heads, about to engulf us and blanket our body in holes once it descends and makes contact. It estimated to be a number around thirty, forty. Only a millisecond later did I realize he was going to shield me, his _protector_, from it with so much of a single sword.

_Will this be the end of his life?_

_He isn't even eighteen yet. He isn't even married, or had children of his own yet. He hasn't even traveled the world yet—his world, his land. He hasn't even been crowned as Lord in place of his father yet._

_I haven't even seen him smile yet._

As if in resolved response, I clutched the Young Lord's forearm and spun him around until his feet and body stumbled behind me. During the process I hit his hands to make him let go of his sword, allowing me to be the holder of it instead. He screamed at me, asking what I was doing, but I blocked his voice out—we didn't have much time left. I made sure he was directly in the back of me, then I waited, waited, waited until the first arrow tip was within my perimeter. And I struck.

I felt my muscles grip the walls of skin closer to them as I attempted to block off every arrow I could. I was never in the right state of mind when my arms move faster than the speed of sound, so clearly it was my instinct that drove brought the sword against many stems of many arrows and for many naive seconds after the whole wave ended, I thought I countered all of them - the entire rain. But as pain ripped through my mid-thigh and my lower left abdomen, it was obvious that I was hit.

Hmph, of course—I braced myself for this. I just barely covered the Young Lord's body: if I had moved due to a moment's cowardice, it would be the his life. And chances were, his heart wouldn't be beating right now. God can take any limb, any organ from me as long as the boy I was protecting had been protected.

I drew in a sharp breathe and winced.

I had almost forgotten the feeling. The last time I felt such a strong injury was so many eons ago I didn't think I could remember the date and Land anymore like I used to. One thing I was sure of, though; I recalled protecting someone then. Or something. I didn't know. But it must've been the only explanation since not once do I remember screwing up by myself. I was far too familiar with how I worked and reacted to danger, trust me, to take all the blame upon my shoulders.

See. Right now. I would've been fine. I would've been fine and okay and the rebels would've already been long gone.

But there's the Young Lord. The selfish, proud, and stubborn boy who could flush my destiny down the drain unless I protected him from harm he carelessly lets himself be dragged in, despite my futile efforts to pull him back out.

I slowly circled back to him, half afraid he would scold me for committing such an act he didn't call for, and half because my tender wound heavily restricted my movements. "Here." I handed him his sword. "I'm sorry for suddenly rushing out in front of you like that. But—" It wasn't the right time and place to do as such, but I gripped the arrow snugged so deeply in my leg, gritted my teeth into nothing but dust, and yanked it out. I held my cry in as much as I could. "—I'm going to protect you. I'd appreciate it so much if you wouldn't get in the way of that." It didn't go as smoothly as I hoped it would, mostly because I hadn't completely anticipated the arrow tip cutting through my tendons and veins would result to the blazing, hot burn that it did. I threw the arrow on the ground once I extracted it and ripped the fabric of my shorts that covered the gash. I split it in two, thick pieces and tied it as a tight knot on top of the cut. I knew it hadn't stop the bleeding, but stopped it momentarily and that was all I needed.

He accepted the sword with a hesitance that made me look into his thoughtful eyes. So...red. As ever. Please, oh please, if he had to lose any aspect that belongs to him, please let it be this smoldering gaze of his. "You didn't need to do that," he said, too near to a whisper that it was barely audible. "I could've handled it."

"And what? End up like me?" I answered, beckoning to my two almost-lethal wounds. "As I said, I'm going to protect you. Please don't get in the way of that."

"You're only going to be a burden now." His voice became stone.

"I've gotten worse. I assure you I can still fight."

He stared down at me. Hard. _Please, oh please, if he has to lose any aspect that belongs to him, please let it be this smoldering gaze of his that, for some insane reason, makes me so weak. _For obvious reasons we couldn't continue talking freely like this while we're in the middle of dealing with the rebels, therefore I was the first to break off our silent connection most likely only the two of us were aware of.

"You can punish me later for this—"

"But for now, be of use and tame these bastards." There was an edge to his voice, almost as if he didn't want to say it. Hell, even I didn't expect him to say it. From the very beginning I had thought that he didn't appreciate my company, and would rather be near a boiling bucket of lava than be in my presence—his actions and the way he spited his words at me clearly showed it.

But he just told me I could be useful, even when I was hurt.

I had to. I just had to anticipate that maybe, I was growing on him. Maybe after I'd won over the invasion, he could finally see me as someone who was worthy of being his protector.

I just had to wish for greater things.

"As you say, Young Lord."

* * *

><p>As soon as Lady Aoi bursted through the doors, I raised up from the futon—cringing in pain from the sudden movement—and bowed with my forehead grazed on the floor and my legs tucked underneath me.<p>

"Lady." I tried hiding my strangled breathe. It had never crossed my mind that bowing could be so _painful. _Just below my chin, the bandage from my leg wound had began bleeding. Again. "My deepest apologies for letting your brother, the Young Lord, fight against the rebels. I should've done all in my ability to rush him to his room, but I didn't and—"

Her warm arms then snaked themselves around my back and under my thighs, carefully uncurling my legs and setting them out straight. "Mikan!" she said. Was she crying? "Oh, I beg of you, stop that, you're opening your wounds. Go back to rest." While she assisted me in laying back on the comfortable futon whose softness I yearned for after a mere second, I noticed how badly her hands were shaking, and how her eyes resisted to meet mine.

"What's wrong, Lady?" I inquired after my head reunited with the pillow once more.

She bit her lip. "God, I-I just...Are you okay?" Her focus traveled vertically along my body, lingering at the places where I felt most sore at. I wonder, from her perspective, if my gashes and bruises were signs of heroism...or weakness.

"Recovering. The royal pharmacist said it'd take me three full weeks until I can walk." Before she can lift her hands to cup her O-shaped mouth I quickly added, "But, in my terms, ten days. And a couple of Naru's courses should be enough to fill the hole in my belly." I touched where the arrow pierced my stomach, as my fingers skimmed the rough surface of the second bandage wrapped around me, and I thought to myself _literally._

Her chuckle, if it was even considered a chuckle, was a light one threaded in many webs of self-accusation. "Nevertheless, you guys did a great job. Thank you for your sacrifices."

I nodded. "Speaking of, may I ask what is the Young Lord's condition?"

Judging from the steady stare she abruptly looked at me with, she knew that I, too, had some worries I needed to rid my heart of. When a long string of silence passed, she said, smiling, "Uninjured, thanks to you."

"Bruises? Cuts? Stabs? Broken bones? Fractured bones? Is he poisoned? Fle—"

"Un—!" she interrupted "—_injured. _For goodness sake, Mikan, stop brooding over that brother of mine and start worrying about your personal health."

"You know I can't do that, Lady. His safety is my top priority."

She held my hand. "Well, if it eases you, this was the first time he's finished a fight without a single scratch on him."

I did a double take on her. "_Wait," _I said, craning my neck up to emphasize my surprise. She laid a reassuring hand on my forehead to push the rear of my head back down onto the pillow. "You mean he's been in other fights?"

"Oh, yes. Countless."

"Countless?"

_"Countless."_

Huh. It all made sense now. The way he fought and attacked and was patient to strike until the last heartbeat were no skills of an amateur. Of course the Young Lord received training like all the other soldiers to get him prepared for worse-case scenarios, but he was never meant to be in the brutal reality of war; of knives shattering on each other with blood-thirsty force. I should've known from the minute I saw him engage in a head-on battle with two rebels at a time,from the minute I saw how his collected facade never broke even in the sight of blood; I should've known he was no ordinary Heir whose naive in the face of violence.

He's fought in battles. _Duh._

...But still. "He's not supposed to. Do the Lord and Mistress know?"

"Oh, no. Brother ordered all the guards in the palace to keep their mouth shut about the matter. Even—_especially _his retainer Kokoro."

_Koko._ He didn't mention a word about it.

"I wouldn't blame him. Mother can be so paranoid about the simplest things, thinking that anything can kill us if we not careful enough."

"Lady, swords _can _kill you."

"Yes, I am aware, but I know my brother. He more destined to live a thousand years rather than be killed in the hands of his enemies."

"Is that a praise?"

She giggled. "It's stupidity in its most idiotic form." She sighed and tucked her cropped hair behind her ear. "I ponder how girls can be so drawn to him."

Her eyes looked solemn, her face downcast with shadows digging on the hollow of her cheeks. She's so lovely, it's no question that she and the Young Lord are related. They shared almost everything from the bridges of their nose to the height of their chin. The one aspect that proved they were two different people was how they used their beauty. Lady Aoi—modest, plain, and innocent. She didn't even know. The Young Lord—...Well, I was sure he used it like a weapon. Distracting others for a mere second, and during that vulnerability, he made his kill.

But, it's not as if I'm saying that's a bad thing.

I felt obligated to answer her, but my mind drew a blank. Luckily, before I can blurt out what I was about to say on pure impulse, the door slid open for the second time, and at the doorway stood a relieved Koko.

He skidded beside Lady Aoi. "Mikan," he murmured. "You okay? I rushed to the scene after I the fight was over and I found you unconscious on the floor." On basic circumstances, those group of words would create a terrible blast on my stomach, and an equally terrible jab to my pride. But I knew: I had defeated eleven rebels at the minimum. That was more than what I intended to do. "You were losing so much blood," Koko continued, the color in his face returning. "Are you stable now?"

"I'm fine," I answered. "Tell me more about what happened when you came."

He looked reluctant, and I was sure he wanted to spend more time doting on my injuries like a mother would. But my stare, so focused and deep, eventually brought him to explain. "Alright. Well, I didn't stay for long, but when I got there, almost the whole situation had been cleared up. All the rebels were rounded, the debris from the destroyed wall...was that made by the rebels?"

"I believe so. It had been there when I came, so I guess they made it as an entrance."

"Hm. Those damn bastards, it's going to take a week until it's rebuilt. Anyways, the debris from the destroyed wall were tidied, and most importantly, the Young Lord was safe and sound." I was about to interrupt to linger more on the Young Lord's condition, but I figured I would anger Lady Aoi and Koko as well, so I restricted my mouth. "But you, on the other hand—Mikan, you're a Lady. Above being a protector, a ninja, above being all of these you're a Lady and I can't swallow the fact that you just let yourself bleed crazy like that. It was _mortifying."_

I sent Koko a glare as soon as I felt Lady Aoi tense up and fidget, but he was too lost daydreaming in his head to notice me. I grabbed her hand. "It's okay," I told her, "I'm alive now, aren't I?" She nodded.

"I ran over to you as fast as I could, and fortunately you were still breathing. I thought I should take the arrow out from your stomach since the tip was probably dipped in poison, but the bleeding would worsen so I left it there." He paused. "I was about to take you to the infirmary when the Young Lord stole you from me." He pouted with a smile tugging the corners of his lips.

My eyebrows met. "Stole?"

He rolled his eyes, his grin becoming more evident. "See, I was intending to take you initially, but before I made even a _step_ towards you, the Young Lord stopped me. He bent down, scooped you in his arms, and told me that he would take you instead." I twitched. The Young Lord _carried _me? "I swear it was so cool of him that I for a second I thought it was a rebel under perfect disguise. But don't worry, it looked nothing like what you're probably imagining right now, Mikan. With you bleeding and unconsciousness and him ragged and covered in filth, it looked like he was burying a dead body," he said, smiling. "The Young Lord then ordered me to help treat the injured guards when he left with you. _That _took forever since every last one of them went down. I swear, they're weaklings. If it wasn't for him, Mikan, you and me would be laying ten feet under ground right now." He looked at me. "You helped too, of course!"

I was going to get more information from him later. Not about my master carrying me, but about why he was allowed to fight amongst the people who were supposed to make sure he did anything but that. I didn't like it—I was in the dark about the Young Lord's circumstances, and why he was so unrestrained to break the rules without anyone getting in his way. Surely, there must be a good explanation behind it. Right? But I wasn't going to discuss it at the moment, not while Lady Aoi's ears were exposed to it. "Then?" I inquired.

"Well, bandaging all the guards kept me busy for around an hour, as I said. And no offense, I like you, I really do, but before I am your friend, I am the Young Lord's retainer. It goes without saying that I went to check up on him first."

"Yes, of course."

"I wasn't exactly worried for him, though. He was fine. He's always fine." Lady Aoi shook her head enthusiastically at this, as if she was trying to prove a point to me. "So I asked him where he dropped you off, and he told me that you were undergoing surgery. I'd have to wait an hour before coming to see you."

"And here you are," I finished.

"Two hours afterwards." His eyes gazed on the floor with a disappointed cast in their gleam. "Sorry. While I waited, I lent a hand with fixing the wall and time got ahead of me. I'm really sorry."

I batted a hand at him. "Koko I've survived years without you. I'm pretty sure I could do for two measly hours," I joked. I turned to Lady Aoi, "Lady? Where are Anna and Nonoko?"

She flinched and started to fiddle her thumbs together. "I-I sneaked out of my room."

Although it warmed my heart that she would go as far as come here by herself just to see me when there could be escapees from the invasion, I didn't want her to be so heavily influenced with such tactics. "Lady, you could see me later. With Anna and Nonoko. What are they doing?"

She jerked, shaking her head and pursing her lips. "It's not their fault, Mikan! I sneaked out by myself when they had their backs turned. Don't be mad at them."

"I'm not mad at them."

"Then," she murmured, peeking from under her eyelashes, "are you mad at me?"

Oh, she's so adorable. I couldn't help but not play with her. "Maybe," I answered. I raised my brows skeptically. "But only i—"

I slightly yelped the minute she jumped to her feet. "Don't be mad at me don't be mad at me don't be mad at me!" she screamed as she ran for the door like her life depended on it. In a matter of two quick seconds she was out the door and I'm hoping, on her way back to her own room, still saying, "Don't be mad at me!" down the hallways. It rang echoes and echoes and echoes till she was finally out of range.

Koko laughed. "She's really attached to you."

I pursed my lips. "Yeah…I have no idea why. We only met a few hours ago and she acts like it's a lifetime."

"Maybe," he sighed, "it's because you resemble Lady Hibari in the most unlikely ways."

His smile retreated until there was only a bit of a curve left, so small it's hard to notice. His voice was weaved in a blanket of melancholy bittersweetness, which only attracted my interest more. "Who?"

His eyes slowly drew to meet mine and for a second, they lingered there. It was so distant—he wasn't seeing me. He was seeing someone else. Then, as if he realized what he just said, his hand flew to his mouth, appalled. "It's—it's no one! I w-was just…lost in my thoughts, is all."

"Koko, who is Lady Hibari?"

"N-No one?"

_Obviously someone. _"Koko."

"No one!"

I sighed. This was yet another mystery to solve. I expected that when I had received my duty, I would know everything, anything, and everyone. It's as the Ancient Scrolls encrypted. But then again, I had stopped relying on them once the Young Lord broke one of its rules during the Blood Oath. "Okay, fine." Right now, I could only take care of one misunderstanding. "But in exchange for not telling that secret, tell me why the Young Lord is allowed to fight."

He brought a thoughtful finger to his chin and rubbed circles around it. At least he didn't look as flustered; maybe he'd spill. "Mm…"

"Koko, come on. You owe me." I batted my eyelashes. "Please?" As much as I hated to use this technique, it's more effective than using violence to get things my way, unlike my clan who favored it very much.

"Owe you what?"

"_Not_ telling me beforehand that the Young Lord would also be at the scene. Would've helped, you know."

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Come on, Mikan. You're a protector. Telling me that you weren't ready to guard his life is ridiculous."

Ridiculous? Was it? I didn't know. "Maybe it is. But Koko, I'm not some forty year old with lots of experience. This is my first time doing this kind of thing, when all my life, I've only protected myself."

"Weren't you trained?"

"With dummies; with superficial lives that won't really matter if I mess up—yes. The Young Lord is different. He's real, and it seriously hits me in the guts knowing that if he dies, it's my fault."

He raked a gentle hand through his hair, heaving a sigh from the part of his mouth. "There's nothing to be worried about."

"Of course I'm worried. Protecting someone requires more than I thought." The scenes all rewinded back in my mind—how because of the Young Lord, I got distracted; because of the Young Lord, my freedom to fight narrowed down to five feet within his perimeter; because of the Young Lord, my attention had to be divided between us to keep both of our fragile lives safe. "You have to keep your eye on them, but then you also have to keep your eye on yourself. It's almost seems impossible, thinking about it."

He held my gaze. "Were you scared?"

I didn't want to show my weak emotions to Koko; we haven't known each other for long and from this, he might've seen me as a vulnerable person without the capacity to fulfill her duty. But I couldn't stop. My heart spoke my words with no resistance whatsoever. "Honestly, I was scared down to the core of my bones. At one point, the Young Lord was standing in front of me, prepared to shield me from a wave of countless arrows that clouded above us. Can you believe it? A protector being protected by whom she is supposed to protect instead." I propelled my vision from his understanding face to the ceiling. "Maybe you're right—it's ridiculous."

"I'm sorry. Do you want to talk about it?"

I did. I definitely did. With my raging hormones out of whack, it took everything I had to lock my feelings in and act like a dignified Lady. It could be so unbearable sometimes. But crying to Koko right now would be stupid of me. Smirking, I playfully shoved his thigh, and he held out an arm to his side to stop him from tipping. "No," I replied, "we're not going off-topic. You haven't answered me yet."

He crossed his legs on top of each other, laying his elbows on his knees while his hands were a loose, knotted fist. He was getting comfortable. I shifted in my futon so I was snug, as well, under the sheets. "Before you accuse me a a liar," he started, "I was going to tell you, but you had that whole rant. I figured you needed to let it out of your system."

"I did. Thanks."

He smiled; he brought a hand to my face and tucked my bangs behind my ear so they wouldn't cover my sight. "The reason why the Young Lord is secretly fighting alongside the guards is because they aren't real guards. They are peasants from the nearby villages that the Young Lord recruited."

* * *

><p><em>Sprrriiinnngggg Brrreeeaaaakkkk!<em>

_Omg. Friends! Movies! Beach!_

_Haha, don't worry guys, I, of course, will still have time to work on this story.(: You'll find out in the later chapters why replacing real guards with fake guards __ is a significance to the plot. Questions about anything? Feel free to ask and I promise I will answer all of them!_

_Hope you all liked this chapter, thank you for reading, and please, PLEASE, review!_

_Stay smexy! _


	5. A Rare Orthodox

Sorry that I haven't updated in a while guys. School has been...overwhelming for me. Guess what? I just found out that I'm taking ALL honors classes next year as a freshmen! Honors english, honors biology, and honors algebra II trig. I'm so effing lucky!

Lol, not.

Would someone be as kind as to tell me what I might expect in these classes? Thank you, kind sirs and ma'ams.3

* * *

><p>And to answer some of your <em>very good <em>questions from the last chapter...

**Who is Lady Hibari?**

_An elephant. Lol, no, just joking. Well, I can't really say it right now since she's one of the main points of the plot, but I can definitely say...she's connected to Natsume. —Cause that's totally not giving it away, riggghhttt?(; — _

**Was Natsume the one that Mikan protected when she said she remembered protecting** **someone?**

_Haha, nooo, it's someone else. And that someone else is another important point in the plot so I won't give it away right now._

* * *

><p>Well, here you go—fifth installment of <em>Adoration Kills.<em> Hope you like it!(: (Even though this issn't my most favorite chapter...)

* * *

><p><em>Heed my every order<em>  
><em>and you might survive<em>  
><em>You're unsuited for<em>  
><em>the rage of war<em>  
><em>So pack up, go home<em>  
><em>you're through<em>  
><em>How could I make a man<em>  
><em>out of you?<em>

_-I'll Make a Man Out of You_ from Mulan

* * *

><p><em>Chapter IV: A Rare Orthodox<em>

The Young Lord and I didn't hit it off with a good start. I'd love to say that we got along, made a stable friendship, and established a faithful bond between a protecter and her master. But I knew, amongst the shallows of my beating heart, that didn't happen.

We disrespected each other. Tested each other. Disappointed each other.

We were just too stubborn for our own good, and that was obviously why we couldn't seem to walk a thousand miles in each other's shoes. Nevertheless, I had always presumed that within the passing days, we'd learn. We'd somehow make the miraculous bridge that allowed us to explore our worlds. It wasn't as if we'd forever remain the way we were for the rest of our intertwined lives.

But when Koko said that the Young Lord fired the well-trained, beneficial guards from respectable, powerful clans and hired peasant guards in their stead, there was a split second when I felt like I would never see the world through his eyes.

"He did...what?"

Koko sighed in exasperation, for this was probably the umpteenth time I had asked the question. "He excused them," he said slowly as if he was talking to a toddler, "so he can hire the peasants."

I blinked. "He did...what?"

"Mikan, I'm not going to repeat it."

I continued to stare at him, trying to find the humor in his smile, the mischief in his tone; the prank in his statement.

There were none.

I licked my lips and nibbled on the bottom one, a habit I often find myself doing when my mind is occupied. "Koko, are you sure? Not everyone can be a good fighter."

"I'm sure," he assured. "I was there when he picked them out."

The ends of my eyebrows were about ready to tickle each other as I furrowed them closer an inch per second. I didn't think he realized just how unbelievable he sounded. The palace guards were supposed to be as best as they could come, and they had to have the best quality training, and of course, the best ability to put the quality training to use. Peasants were, well...the exact opposite of that. As their name suggested they were people of low class; had little money so therefore, had little privileges. The idea of even thinking the possibility that peasants _replaced_ genuine palace guards was absurd. "You're so nonchalant about this," I pointed out. "Is this some kind of welcoming prank for the newbie around here?"

"No." He smirked. "That's a different story. I'm serious about this one. Have you heard of how the Young Lord sometimes escapes into the villages?"

_"But, Natsume," the Mistress said, looking back and writhing away as the Lord sighed in frustration, "Don't you dare run away into the town again just to escape this. You worry me so when you do that unbreakable habit of yours. Promise me? "_

"Yes, though not directly," I said. The delighted, chirping sounds of canaries flew by us outside the porch, followed by a nice breeze that trickled inside the recovery room. My lids met in a thin line as the wind caressed my skin, leaving me wanting more for the refreshing sensation. "The Mistress was scolding him for that."

Koko leaned back on the heel of his hands. He must've been greeted by they passing wind, like me, for his smile grew. "Yeah, well, she scolds him for a lot of things, but she doesn't exactly know that he makes his local trips just because he needs more guards here."

"So he lies." It's hard to think that despite this excellent weather on this excellent day, a few hours ago I was on the verge of death. Well, if my injuries were really _that _fatal.

He shook his head. "Okay, I get it, I'll stop before I seriously brainwash you. Mikan, I want you to do me a favor."

I looked out on the porch, where the sky was a shallow hue of beige and light blue, and the clouds raced on its empty canvas. I circled to him. "What?"

"Give him a chance. He's not horrible. Sorta."

"I don't think the Young Lord is horrible."

"Right, 'cause the scowl you have on right now_ totally_ convinces me."

Along with his words, Father's own rang light echoes in my ears.

_"From now until the day you die, you are to protect this man. You will let no harm come to him, and if it is necessary, be sure it is you that has to be hurt in his stead. Mikan Sakura of the Sakura clan, I am assigning you the duty to be Natsume Hyuuga's protector."_

That day when he told such vital news to a young, eight year old, it was inevitable that I couldn't comprehend its importance right away. Though, as I aged year by year, I slowly realized the meaning behind the drawled-out syllables.

I was Natsume Hyuuga's protector. He was my master, my superior, my everything, and as the Ancient Scrolls stated, I did not question the acts or doings of my master. We hadn't known each other for a very long time, but there had been already many cases that I had to remind myself of this rule.

Reminding myself another time won't be much of a difference.

I thought.

"No," I insisted, "a slave cannot bear feelings that goes against her superior."

Koko heaved a deep breathe. "I may not be a protector like you, bu—"

"You know what? I'm stupid. Really stupid. I'm not supposed to question his actions, yet here I am, doing so. Behind his back, even." I ran my hand down my face. "Let's stop. Sorry, but can you not mention we had this talk?"

* * *

><p>The next few days flew by in a flash. With Koko, Lady Aoi, Anna Nonoko, and Naru coming to visit me often, boredom didn't attack me as often as I thought it would.<p>

Turned out, the day the rebels invaded, the Lord and Mistress were away on an important meeting with other clans, which was why I hadn't heard from them the whole day. They were gone until about nighttime, and the minute they arrived back on Palace grounds, they were informed of the invasion and quickly rushed first to my room.

I had to lie, unfortunately, when they interrogated me about the invasion. Why was I severely injured? Why were half the palace guards knocked out? Why was there a gigantic gaping hole on their living room wall? I couldn't tell them, _"Oh, it's because of your son and his idiocy," _so instead, I blamed it on the overpowering amount of rebels that attacked, and no matter how many I defeated, they just kept coming. The Mistress and Lord were skeptical about it, but they eventually believed me.

I also asked them why they visited me first, rather than their own children who were as likely to be as injured.

_"I trust you," _said the Mistress on behalf of herself and her husband, "_and because I trust you, I know you kept my son safe. And despite that you aren't responsible for Aoi's life, I know you watched over her, too. I figured that with all these lives to protect, you must've been injured while you fought for them. Seems like I'm right."_

It pained me to openly lie to a face who didn't even notice it.

And, oddly enough, the Young Lord paid me a visit, as well.

Even if it only was once.

Even it if was only to shut me up about him fighting.

_"I don't expect you to keep it a secret,"_ he told me the day he dropped by, _"but the second you tell my parents, I will never acknowledge you."_

In the three measly minutes that he was there, I took in everything that I could from a physical standpoint. Like if he had scars, bandages, or healing wounds from the battle because despite my effort to hide it, I had always doubted that I succeeded in keeping him away from harm. Back then it all seemed like a dream—remembering only fragments, never the entire thing due to my massive blood loss.

But the Young Lord's skin was radiant. Blood no loner covered him. He was in no possession of a sword. I had done my duty.

_"Yes," _I replied,_ "I swear I will never tell the Mistress or Lord anything that you haven't yet. My royalty is to you, not them."_

He didn't ask how my recovery was going, but just for a single, silent second he stood there, arms crossed, back leaned against the screen door in which he came from as his eyes rivered from my head to my toe. I couldn't tell what was going through his mind when he stared at where the arrows pierced me, for his expression remained as stoic as ever.

But I knew without his words, he was quietly inspecting my injuries, as I was with him. I was just too proud to show my concern for him. The Young lord—well, I was sure he just didn't like the fact that _"a girl" _protected him.

As I said, we were simply too stubborn for our own good.

On the seventh day, both Lady Aoi and the Young Lord were out with their parents to learn the family business. Koko told me that for the mean time, they had a replacement guard to protect the Young Lord since I wasn't available. At first, the news alarmed because I didn't trust just _anybody _to protect my master, but after Koko said that the replacement guard was him, I eased down. All the other servants and workers in the Palace were also busy. And because for an entire six hours I was left alone, bored and inattentive, I had decided to write Mother a letter of my current situation. Though I didn't—_couldn't_ lie, I tried to make it sound as pleasant as it was despite that I almost died.

_Dear Mother,_

No, no. Too formal.

_Hey Mother,_

There we go. All right, how should I start?

_Well, it's been nine days. I'm coping here really well, and I've already made some new friends. How are the twins? I would hope that they aren't causing trouble back home, but I should know the best how unlikely that would be. Please tell them that I still expect excellent behavior. _

_By now, I'm guessing that Lady Kish has delivered. I ask you to send my regards to her health. How's the baby? Boy or girl? Name? Weight? Maybe you could also send a painting back of her/him so I could get a visual. I'd hang on to it for a lifetime until I come to see the real thing. _

_Oh, and you don't have to tell me how Toshiro is. Just give him my message: stop freaking out, stop blushing, stop looking at your baby every three seconds, and move your ass. You have a family to support now. _

_One of the friends I made here, Mother, is called Kokoro, but he goes by Koko. He's the Young Lord's retainer. What's so ironic about our friendship is that it began when I threatened to kill him. It's a long story; I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear it._

(Because no mother would want to hear about her "honorable" daughter misunderstanding and screwing up.)

_Then there's Narumi - Naru. He's a great chef and no offense, but he might be even better than our own. He's been feeding me exceptional food that every morning, I wake up for the sole reason to taste it once more._

_Anna and Nonoko are the twins I had also recently met. Anna is an aspiring chef that Naru has taken under his wing in hopes to nurture her to be as great as him someday, and Nonoko is...a genius. I can't explain it - she just has a way with mixing stuff together._

_The two of them are retainers for the Young Lord's sister, Lady Aoi Hyuuga. Oh, she's simply a joy to have, Mother. Like a little sister I had always dreamt of having. She treats like I'm the greatest person that had ever walked into her life. Koko mentioned a few days ago that I resembled a girl named Hibari, and that's why Lady Aoi is so attached to me, but when I tried to ask further questions, he shut me off. _

_It's not just that either. There's so many things that I am not aware of here, and it infruates me. It's like at every corner I turn, a secret lies beneath the floors._

_I think it's all because of the Young Lord._

_I have to be honest. We aren't really sailing on a steady boat. At this point, I still haven't had a decent conversation with the guy. He rarely talks, rarely smiles, and God forbid that he rarely is around me, as well. It's so hard to keep him near me, especially if it's only I who puts forth the effort. You were a young girl once, right Mother? Advice me on how to talk to boys. I think I really need that right now. _

_By the way, there was an invasion seven, eight days ago. I got stabbed with arrows on my thigh and stomach. I'm fine, though, don't worry. The Hyuuga's also have amazing doctors. _

_I'm close to lulling to a sleep, so I have to bid my goodbyes now. My highest regards to you and Father._

_Your Daughter,_

_Mikan_

The next day, my doctor, a man named Subaru, gave me one of my last examinations. He replaced my bandages, but only because he hadn't for the past few days. It's a good thing—meant I was recovering right on track.

He placed a stethoscope on the lower area of my back while I laid face-down on the pillow.

"The bloodstream seems to be flowing regularly," he said, steadily moving the circular object on my skin. I suppressed the urge to kick the damn thing away. So cold. "Good." He moved it northward and stopped beside my shoulder blade.

"Doctor, when can I be discharged? I hate being stuck here." My voice came out as a muffled sound as my face was half buried into the pillow.

Before answering, he lifted the stethoscope off my back. When I heard the metallic click of his medical box opening, I got on my knees to put my yukata back on. "Tomorrow." Doctor Subaru fixed his glasses that slipped down the bridge of his nose. "You should be out by tomorrow."

"Finally."

He touched my arm. "But I do not want you carelessly moving right away. Your wounds still haven't fully closed yet; you might open them back up if you do anything extreme."

I absent-mindedly tied my yukata together, thinking of new exercises and drills to get my training back on track. "Okay, okay."

And when he left the room, I enthusiastically; immediately began with two-hundred and fifty sword thrusts.

By the time my estimated ten days of healing were over, I was anxious to get my blood pumping again; to feel the great rush of adrenaline I usually get. Laying in bed with nothing to do but yap my day away to others (if there _were _any) really dulled my senses.

So after moving my clothes and other necessities back to my room—nights ago, the Lord assigned me my room, which was just across the hall from the Young Lord's. It was lovely; super comfortable. Though it has no windows, and therefor, no amazing views, it was still perfect—I jaunted straight to the kitchen in hopes of finding Naru or Koko or anyone that was familiar with where the training grounds were.

Naru was, as usual, flipping fish, adding spices; doing everything an addicted cook would be. I walked up to him.

"Hey," I said.

He peeked over his shoulder, returning when he caught a glance of my face below. "Hey!" he joyfully chirped. "You're out! How're you feeling, sweetie?"

"Okay. Still hurts." I perched my elbows on the counter beside his stove, my back against the cold granite as I inspected the crowded kitchen. "I'll manage. Anything's better than being cooped up."

"Mm. If it was me, I would've died on the second day. There's _nothing _in that room: no painting, no plant, no carpet, no nothing. I can't believe you were once called a jitterbug. Your patience range far greater than mine."

I smiled up at him. "Hey, know where I can train? A place with lots of open space will do."

While adding dashes of pepper to his grilled fish, he cupped his chin with a finger and thumb. "Open space?"

"Yeah. Whether it's outside or in here, it doesn't matter."

"Mm..." He turned around and leaned against the sidelines of the stove, the small of his back glued on the counter. "Ah!" With a spatula in one hand, he knocked the base of his fist onto his palm. "Actually I do. It's outside, though. You might get a little bit sweaty."

"That's perfect."

His eyebrow quirked. "What about your wound?"

"Do you think I'm stupid enough to train if there's risks involved? Doctor Subaru stitched me up real good," I said, patting my stomach where I was hurt for proof. Although it hasn't _completely _healed yet, it had to do for the being because to be honest, I noticed I had gotten fatter. And rounder. I knew that ten days of eating luxury without burning the extra calories would result to this.

"Alright...then the place is just on the boundary of the south wing," Naru said, getting back to his dish. "It's always open, so you can take your time."

I gave his shoulder a light pat. "Thanks, Naru. I'm off," I bided, pushing myself off from the counter and sauntering away.

"Wait!" He called. I stopped in my tracks and whipped back to him. He held up his spatula while a bright smile shone on his face. "Want lunch?"

Laughing, I jokingly saluted with my two forefingers and answered, "I'll be counting on it."

I walked down the palace corridors slowly. My right leg hadn't fully healed yet since I strained it by doing sudden movements, stretches, jerks, and exercises while it was recovering, so I walked with a slight limp. It was a bad, bad idea—the obvious limping only reminded me more that I've been affected by such a shallow cut, which was what I tried to avoid in the first place.

Doctor Subaru said that the arrow tip that had hit me was poisoned and most of it already transferred in my blood stream before I got the chance to yank it out. He did a fine job of ridding me of the poison, but I wasn't supposed to move around yet—five days to be specific. I disobeyed that order, resulting in the wound taking more time to heal than usual.

It was fine, whatever. I could've hidden it.

It was two minutes after I left when I had gotten to the part of the corridor where the wall only reached halfway up from the ground. It was like a small strip of a porch, the way I thought of it. Beyond the half-wall, a wide, green field of luscious grass spread out spaciously. I took note in my mind that this might have been what Naru suggested: broad, free, and there were no signs of usage limitations. But something convinced me it wasn't.

There were men already here. The training space wasn't empty.

About twenty of them had crowded the area. They were shirtless, sweating, heaving, red, and God forbid they were _filthy. _The little amount of clothing they wore—pants—were tattered and painted in a murky brown. Most were holed in patches also. But despite their unruly appearance, they were symmetrically lined up in five rows of four.

"Hah!"

They each held blade in their hands, bringing it high in the air and slashing it down with force.

"Hah!"

They were ammeters, though. From the way their cut wavered, it took no sweat off my back to figure out they didn't have an ounce of experience in their feeble bones.

"Hah!"

At the very front of them stood another man. His stare looked upon the sea of men, his eyes scoping with a keen gaze as the wind tussled his deep, golden hair. He positioned himself in a very commander-like stance—feet apart and arms tightly crossed.

Koko.

It was almost hard to recognize him without his usual smile.

I leaped over the half-wall on a good arm and trotted over to him. I took little steps, buying more time to analyze the situation that I had guessed was the Young Lord's new recruit plan, since the armed men were so clearly peasants from the villages, and not guards. There would be no other reason why they should step unto the Palace grounds and wield a genuine sword loosely other than that.

The second I step into view next to Koko was the very second that all twenty pairs of eyes fell upon me and all twenty pairs of hands stopped their drills.

"Don't stop, idiots!" Koko hollered, immediately sending them back to work with a few frightened flinches here and there. I was surprised—I hadn't known that Koko can yell.

"Hey," I murmured.

He waited until he was sure the men had drawn their attention from me. When they did, he casted me a secretive smile. "Hey, sunshine. Glad to see you've been discharged."

"You're not the only one. Are they the Young Lord's recruits?"

"Freshly picked," he spoke with a mischievous grin. "He and I went out yesterday, and these were all we could find. I'm just trying to scare the useless ones away."

I glared at at a young someone from the third row that cryptically observed me, veiling it by maintaining his thrusts. When our gazes clashed, he averted away with an obvious wince.

I searched through the faces of the men. Their skin, oily and cracked from the countless hours of manual labor under the sun, and their lips dry; chapped, were not features I recognized, nor favored looking at. The strands of their unruly hair were dripped in sweat, making it easier to stick to their foreheads. Veins popped in and out of their necks, which was red and unevenly sunburned. Although it was from a distance, none of them were whom I was hoping to find.

"Looking for the Young Lord?"

"Trying," I replied absent-mindedly, standing on my tip-toes to get a view of the people at the rear. "Nope, not there either."

After the Young Lord's visit at the recovery room, I thought about trying to get to know him better since we were, after all, spending eternity beside each other. I spent many hours on the topic, and I contemplated with myself as if my opinions and factious knowledge were parred the same. Then I realized, unless I cooperated, and unless I made him cooperate as well, we wouldn't be going anywhere from our standpoints in the present.

He wouldn't go on from being the Young Lord to the Lord of the Three Great Lands.

I couldn't fulfill my duty to assist him in achieving that goal.

So, I decided, that even if it was I who had to throw her pride away, who had to make the initial move, I would get closer to the Young Lord. Whether he liked it or not.

_He might push me away. He might demote me. He might resent me even more._

Did I care?

Of course.

Would I look like I care?

Of course not.

"He's at that back tree over there. Be quiet when you approach him, though, I think he's taking he's taking a nap."

"A nap? Isn't he in charge of this whole recruit thing?"

"Yeah, that's why don't wake him up."

A little confused, I took Koko's word and weaved down the columns. Most of the recruits, I could tell, were desperately trying to not make eye contact with me as I passed by them. It was hilarious—I nudged a few shoulders to try and get them to relax, but assuming from their shocked, apologetic reactions, it had done the opposite.

Not too far behind the last row was the Young Lord, just as Koko had said. He was laying down on the grass, his neck arched on the base of a tree as his arms crossed behind his raven, dark head that just _had _to be beautifully messed up by the wind. Over his face was an open book that its title read _All Is Fair._ How ironic. That was a romance novel.

I tiptoed next to his sleeping form, careful to not get an inch too close because I was sure he really was slumbering. I didn't know why, though—from what Koko told me, he was always in charge of this whole recruit thing, so it would've been common sense that he'd be awake to watch over the peasants and choose from the bunch.

I stood by him, hands folded over the hilt of the Dragon Sword, for a good minute until he awoke from the silentness of my presence.

"What?" he asked, his voice muffled by the book.

"I have been discharged, Young Lord."

"Great."

"I suppose you are to take me back to your side now?"

He sighed. "Not like I have any other choice." His head inclined, making the book gradually slip off his face and unto his hand that awaited to catch it at his chin. I swear, I could hear church bells chiming and cherubs singing from someplace far the moment he took it off, as my nerves began to shiver. Guess I wasn't cured yet. Beautiful people _still _made me waver. "Are you going to ask?"

"It's not my place to," I said.

"Then go away."

I stood still and buckled my knees. "Pardon the rudeness, but I will not." It had already been eleven whole days since we've known each other. Two-hundred and sixty-four hours. Fifteen-thousand, eight-hundred and forty seconds. Only God knew how many milliseconds had passed as well. My point was that despite that somewhat-long time, this was, what, only the fourth...fifth time we'd talked? "I've come here today to get to know you better."

"You're joking," he scoffed.

I took in a deep breath. "My name is Mikan Lorel De'Sho Sakura. I am the heiress of the Sakura clan from the Third Land. Sixteen years old. Nice to meet you." I expected the silence that lingered after, so I continued. "My birthday is the start of the new year. I am the first girl born into the family name since many eons ago. But, please, don't worry. I'm sure by now you're familiar with my strength."

"Bragging," he muttered under his low sigh.

"Hardly." I tipped back on my heels, then forward on the tip of my toes. My limbs were far too stiff, and the Young Lord's one-word answers weren't helping me relax. "I love birds," I went on, "and deer. And horses. And peacocks; _oh, _I _simply _adore them. The colors, the wide-spread feathers—everything. I tend to look at scenic views a lot, too. Basically, anything that is balanced with art and nature captures my attention. I do not paint, though. I'm a clumsy little fool when a brush is handed to me. Let's see...my best friend...I don't have one, really. Growing up I spent more of my childhood with spears and sweat, rather than with other children. I was also home-schooled. Though, there was this girl that tried to approach me one time; I think I scared her off, since I was in the middle of sparring with Toshiro. He's my caretaker. Or advisor. He's many things to me. Right now, he's proba—"

I stopped when I circled to meet his eyes—only, I didn't expect to be frozen at the sight of his two blood treasures. The rest of his face hid behind the book cover, but only his eyes remained exposed. Exposed like a deer in the dead of the night. He looked deeply into mine. His eyebrows straight. His pupil still as a winter's night. They were so lovely, and it took all sense in me to not blurt it out. I had already forgotten the words that were ready to come out. The details began to flit away into the inner most corners of my mind where I wouldn't be able to reach them, not until the Young Lord and I broke contact. Among the surface of my heart was this sudden, tiny urge to come close to his face, enough so that I could see the reflection of me on his beet-red globes. I wondered how I look, with him so..._focused _on me. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. Maybe he saw my body of that of an undomesticated animal's—a beast. Maybe he just saw me as a ruthless girl who killed just so she wouldn't disappoint. Maybe he saw me as both.

But I couldn't be sure of anything, because his facade was impossible to make out. I didn't think I had ever met someone who could hide themselves so well. Before I had realized it I was also staring as hungrily into him. Searching for answers that I was desperate to find. It got dangerous. Forcing my senses back, I started the conversations again, but I drew short as I was too stunned to be able to pick up where I left off. So, in desperation to get away from his scrutinizing stare, I uttered, "U-Uh, Young Lord. Would you...like some berries?"

_Berries?_

He waited five heartbeats. I was positive that he thought I was joking. Then, smirking as if he knew exactly what kind of effect he left, he turned away and covered his face with the romance book once more. "Idiot."

I towered by his side, finally letting him get his slumber, as I blushed ten different shades of red.

* * *

><p>"Mikan! Over here for a moment?"<p>

I looked down at the boy resting beside my feet, who was already miles deep into his dream world. It had been an hour since he'd last woken up, and I figured, with him inattentive, it'd be another hour still. I glanced at Koko waving from across the yard to me to get my attention.

I paused. "Coming."

I left the Young Lord's side and was by Koko in seconds. He was instructing this peasant boy on how to correctly wield his sword. I had been watching Koko trying to teach him for thirty minutes; I should've expected that he would soon call me for my aid.

"Help him? I'm getting nowhere," he said, with an apologetic smile.

"Sure."

The minute the boy and I came face-to-face, he shivered tremors down his back that was even greater than when Koko was in front of him.

Insecure. Very shy and unsure about himself.

"Ever held a sword before?" He nodded. "Someone taught you?" He nodded again. "Well, your teacher is a dumbass. No way is that nearly how you should handle a weapon." Behind me, Koko made no efforts to veil his chuckles. "Here." I tapped the interiors of his ankles, a signal to tell him to bring his feet apart more. I laid my hands on top of his shoulders to straighten them out. "Relax. This isn't real. Relax." Little by little, his shoulders came down on their own, and when they hit the mark where they were supposed to be, I took my grip off.

"Alright, let's see your swing." Halfway through it, I immediately interrupted him. "No, no. Feeble. Weak. A cut like that won't even make a scratch." I got into my striking stand, as I held the ghost of a sword in my hands. I exampled three, perfect swings. "Like that. Think you can copy that?"

He bit the bottom of his lip. A spark within me lit up when I saw that his swing improved by the tiniest bit. I made him do fifty consecutive drills—"bring it high to bless the gods, then low to slay the demons". Although by the end of it, his progress were that of a pure beginner, it was satisfactory for the time being.

"What's your name, peasant?" I said, smiling curtly.

He looked at me from under his eyelashes. "L-Leo." He was panting.

"What?"

"Leo."

"Leo?"

"Y-…Yes."

"I'm Mikan." I gave his cheek two light pats. "You're young. Don't worry about getting it right. A couple months of training, and you'll be able to spar against me. I've never lost, though. Especially to a New Blooder."

Koko took me by the wrist and dragged me away. "You're amazing," he told me once we were out of range form the others.

"I often worked with the children of my clan."

"But I've been doing this for well over a year now. Never have I gotten through them as fast you had with that Leo kid." He then cupped my face with both of his hard, calloused hands. "I've got an idea."

My response was almost too quick. "No."

"You don't even know what I was going to say."

" '_Mikan, you dear, you. __Would you as kindly please help me turn these lowlife peasants into great warriors?' "_

He laughed. "It's along those lines."

"No," I repeated.

"Why not?"

"It's going to distract me. My job is to protect the Young Lord, and to do that, I have to stay by his side at all times."

"What about the time when the invasion occurred? Instead of running to him, to went straight to the main source."

"Only because I trusted you to keep him safe. When we're both working with the peasants, I can't trust anyone else to stay by him."

He stared at me, hesitating. It only registered into my mind that I had told him I trusted him. He smiled. "Please? I'll make sure Natsume keeps close."

"Then why doesn't he help in the first place? If he does, then I won't have a problem."

He shrugged. "He's not stupid and lazy enough to not help on purpose. he has circumstances, Mikan."

"Such as?" I crossed my arms determinedly.

Koko's eyes began to light a few sparks, then came a blazing fire that burned _I am not a liar. _He hated that. He absolutely despised being accused of dishonesty. It's one of the simple traits I had learned about him during our story time back at the recovery room. "They're scared of him," he answered.

I cocked my head to the side.

"Leo. The peasants. They're all scared of the Young Lord."

I looked back over my shoulder to the rows of glistening men. As I observed the movements, I noticed that whenever they made a mistake during their drills, they slightly glanced to the Young Lord. One second, two seconds...when they made sure he was still asleep, they went back to work. I hadn't noticed it before, but Koko was right.

They were checking to see if he caught their flaws or not.

"Why would they be?" I asked Koko.

"Oh, please. I don't even need to explain that to you. But I am anyways, since I figure _you'd_ have trouble with it." _What is that supposed to mean? _"Alright, so imagine yourself in their shoes—poor, homeless, scraping dirt from off the ground just to find a couple of dropped cents."

"Okay." I bobbed my head slowly to show my understanding.

"Now, picture the most powerful man—the Lord of the Three lands—picture the most powerful man's _son_ coming to you out of nowhere one day, asking if you'd like to be part of his royal army. Picture talking to him. Picture how'd you feel when someone of such a high, high status was talking to you, the crappiest of the low. Picture how honored you'd be."

"...Yeah."

"You'd be so stunned and happy, you wouldn't dare say no. But I want you to picture yourself right here, right now. Demonstrating your 'abilities' to the Young Lord, when in truth, you have none at all. How would you feel?"

"Weak. Useless." I didn't need to think twice about responding. "I used to feel the same when I was younger towards my father."

"Mm. Exactly. You wouldn't want him to watch your every move and silently judge you, right?"

"No."

He grinned, triumphant smeared all over his cheekbones. "Point proven."

I didn't argue with him anymore further on the matter. "Got it. But why would they accep—"

"Koko? Mikan!"

Koko and I turned around to the shrilly voice. Josephine, a household maid I had met a few days back, was standing behind the half-wall. When she realized she had caught our attention, she jumped over it and scampered to us from across the field. She lifted her ankle-length skirt with two hands, the fire-cherry hair bun at the crown of her head bobbing up and down. As she ran by the men, they, with their low intelligence and breed, looked sultrily after her. But I didn't blame them; Jo was gorgeous. "Koko!"

"What is it?" he asked once she came to a gradual halt by us.

Her hands were on her knees as her back arched in exhaustion. When her eyes lifted up form the ground to meet mine and Koko's, the alerted flare in her green marbles made my heart leap. Was it another invasion? I quickly shot a glance to the Young Lord. My nerves eased when he remained as I last saw him. "She's...She's here," she panted.

"Who?" I inquired.

"She...She—doesn't want...to wait."

I leaned down into her. "Jo, I don't know who you're talking about if you don't tell me who it is."

"Her!" She abruptly grasped the sides of my upper arms. She dug her sharp nails into my skin, making me flinch from surprise. Her eyes shook with craze. "It's—It's—!"

_Criminals? Assassins? _"It's?"

She set her eyebrows straight in a perfect horizontal line. "It's the Young Lord's cousin. Lady Hotaru Imai."

* * *

><p>Are you guys excited to see Hotaru in the next chapter? Haha, guess you'll have to waait~! She's coming with friends, too.(;<p>

And yes, I realize this isn't one of my best chapters, but I had to write it like this to set a base for the upcoming events. I promise I will try to update sooner, so expect the next chapter!(:

Thank you so, so much for taking your time to read this, and please review! And if you have any questions, then feel free to ask theeemmm. :D

Stay smexy!


	6. What The Hell Have You Gotten Me Into?

Hey guysss(: Back with another chapter!

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><p><strong>Questionss...<strong>

**Am I a fresh in highschool?**

_Lol, yupp. Bottom of the food chain, guys._

**Is Hotaru older than Mikan? **_  
><em>

_Nahh, they're about the same age._**  
><strong>

**What is Natsume doing by hiring peasants for guards?**_  
><em>

_Oh my goodnesssss, you guys just love to ask questions that reveal the plot. Lol, I'll answer that laateerr~_

**Is Hibari Aoi's past protector?**

_Nahh._

**Why is Ruka called Koko in this story?**_  
><em>

_Uhh, Ruka and Koko are two different people._

**Was Natsume jealous when Mikan talked about Toshiro?**

_Ohh, how I love my reviewers. Lol, no, Natsume wasn't jealous. He was just staring at Mikan as she talked about herself, and she was surprised to find him staring. Cause, you know, Natsume has that kind of stareee~3_

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><p>Okay, so I know there hasn't been much action, but I assure you, after this chapter, everything else will leave you at the edge of the seat. Bad thing is, you'll have to wait for me to updatee.(; Kay, so this is just a preface for the next chapter, so don't expect anything...big. Yeah. Enjoy!(:<p>

* * *

><p><em>Well you can't take me down<em>

_With just a single blow_

_Cause you don't know_

_What you don't know_

_-Mean _by Taylor Swift

* * *

><p><em>Chapter VI: What the Hell Have You Gotten Me Into?<em>

"His cousin?"

The words had barely left my lips when Koko hurriedly waved his arms into the air and ran in the direction of the peasants. He flailed his limbs at everyone everywhere and it took a while for the peasants to realize Koko had wanted them to scatter. "Hide, all of you!" he exclaimed. The men looked at each other, then to him as if he'd gone crazy. "The hell you waiting for? _Fucking hide!"_

I whipped back to Jo, feeling their feet pound against the dirt in disarranged beats. "What's wrong? Who's Hotaru?" I was surprised at the familiarity I felt inside as the name rolled off my tongue.

"No, _no!_ Not in the bushes, idiots!"

She stared at me, like I was the one who fell into insanity, but as she shook her head she replied, "Mikan, I need you to wake the Young Lord." She casted a quick glance somewhere in the back of me. "I need you to wake him up now."

"Huh? Wh—"

"Tell him to come to the Great Hall!" I tried to get a word in but before I even got the chance, she dashed away across the field. "I'm counting on you!" she yelled over her shoulder, wiggling her skinny arms high. She hurdled over the half-wall and disappeared down the hallways, leaving me to answer my own question.

"Mikan!"

I turned to Koko. When our gazes met, he made a quick jostle of his head towards the Young Lord and clasped his hands together at his forehead. _Please wake him up, Mikan. Do as Jo had said. _He sent me a wink and went back to trying to hide the conspicuous bodies of the twenty, frenzied peasants. I couldn't help but stifle a laugh at their useless attempts. They ran, and after a mere couple of steps, they fell, creating a domino affect when it were the ones at the front of the herd that tripped.

"Mikan! Stop laughing and move!"

I waved a hand at him. "Okay."

As I made for the Young Lord, I thought about back to the name Hotaru Imai, and why it sounded so..._distinctly _familiar as if it rekindled a dying light in my memories. I'd heard it somewhere; I was sure. And when it resounded in my head, a picture of an old, frail Mistress popped in my vision.

But something else tugged me towards the opposite direction—told me she wasn't of such great age. I've encountered many people in my life, whether they were royalty or not, and I often traveled with my parents to other kingdoms to befriend the ruling families. I'd met almost everyone who was anyone. Maybe this Hotaru person was among the many Ladies that I got aquainted with, but couldn't remember her so well.

I didn't know. Maybe.

I crept up adjacent to the listless body of my master and dropped to my knees when I got to him. For a second, I gazed down at his face, then to his profile as he turned on in his side. _He's so beautiful. _Although it was foolish, I envied him for having such fine features a girl like me didn't have. If only he was kinder. "Young Lord," I whispered, slightly shaking his shoulders, "wake up." Nothing. "Young Lord," I pressed on louder, "please wake up." Nothing. "Young Lord."

His piercing, bloody eyes fluttered open, taking me by surprise that I jolted back a couple of feet. He stared at me for a second. "What?" he growled lowly.

"You have a visitor."

He groggily glanced around his surroundings, not even flinching at the sight of Koko-and-Peasants-Gone-Wrong. Then looking back to me—I swear, he glared or something—he rolled up to his knees, and eventually to his feet as I mirrored his actions. "Who is it?" It always made me felt insecure when he stood almost a head taller than I did—I only equaled to his chin. In my clan, that would have been considered as rather tall for a female. But here, in the Hyuuga domain, I couldn't help but think my height was nothing, absolutely nothing to be proud of.

He began to walk. "It's Lady Hotaru Imai," I informed him while I matched my pace with his stride. "Josephine said that your presence is required at the Great Hall."

He ruffled his raven-hued hair messy. "Imai? The hell..." He slowed to a stop. "Koko."

The fore-mentioned name, whom I didn't even notice was just a few feet away from us, was wrestling a peasant. He took the poor boy in a tight head lock as he bit his bottom lip in satisfactory. Something told me he was enjoying this far too much. When Koko answered to the Young Lord, his brows were furrowed together. "Natsume?" He drew them back. The peasant in his arms abruptly froze; I could tell—he froze in fear.

"You didn't tell me my cousin was coming."

Koko shrugged. "I didn't know myself."

"How long has she been here?"

"Minutes already, probably."

The Young Lord clicked his tongue. "Shit."

Koko shoved the recruit to the ground and trotted over to us. "You should hurry up," he said, raising his hands to ruffle the Young Lord's hair tidy again and fix the loosely fitted collars of his kimono. "Because I think Sumire's with her too. And you know what it's like when you keep _those _two waiting."

_Sumire?_

"Why the hell is she even here anyways?" He stoically hissed. He started to lead the way back to the corridors as Koko and I followed in his wake.

"Shouldn't you run?"

"No."

"It'll get ugly if you don't, Natsume. I'm not gonna be there this time. I have to keep the stupid recruits hidden."

He held the top of his shoulder and rolled his arm around its socket, stretching. "Ruka's there," the Young Lord added through a lazy, drawled yawn. "Probably. He'll hold her back."

"And what if he isn't there?"

"She won't kill me."

"But Sumire would," said Koko. He stared hotly at the back of his master's head, looking like he thought it'd be enough to convince the stubborn boy to agree with his way.

The Young Lord scoffed in a nonchalant manner. "Like she'll ever want to try again."

Koko stopped dead in his tracks. Surprised, I slowed to a halt as well, but the Young Lord idly kept going, unaware. "Don't Natsume," he reprimanded. Through all the emotions that waved his voice, the one I could've pointed out clearly the most was anger. Rising anger.

Koko...he wouldn't have had the guts to be _angry_ with the Young Lord.

...Right?

He continued. "I thought you promised we'd never talk about it again."

Our master finally refrained from moving any further. Sighing, he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked over his shoulder to me and Koko. "I'm not," he answered.

"You are."

"No."

"Natsume—"

"I don't have the time Koko." In all his unspeakable liberty, he presented his back to us once more and continued on away. His strides were breezy and collected, while Koko on the other hand, shook with terrible tremor erupting from his veins beside me. I stared at the small fire igniting immersed in his pupils, ready to erupt and slice someone in half. What made me terribly uneasy was that Koko wasn't seeing me, he only saw the Young Lord.

Of course I trusted Koko.

And because I trusted him, I doubted him.

I started to make little steps towards him in spite I wasn't even sure what I was doing or going to say. I could have comforted him back into the safe zone—the sane, happy-go-lucky-Koko zone—or just punched the lights out of his system. I chose to use words. My head hurriedly processed all the possible sentences that could sooth off my lips to get him to calm down from whatever he was internally getting furious about. Was it because of this girl named Sumire? Did someone do the unspeakable to her?

As I slowly stretched my arm to him, he did something bewildering that forced my arm to recoil in shock and my face twist right-side up due to the sudden confusion. In a second's pass, his half smile/ half frown completely turned into a full-out shiner. The ferocity emitting from him somehow vanished, as if a cork opened and let it all out, and he beamed as if sun gave him life.

"Thank God, she doesn't have a chance," he whispered through a happy sigh.

_What?_

"Mikan, what are you doing standing there?" he said cheerfully to me. "You need to get Natsume to the Great Hall." He skipped—yes, skipped—up until he was again side-by-side with the Young Lord. The Young Lord declined his peripheral view a bit to glance down at Koko, and I swear on all that I hold dear, the tiniest, most minute and inconceivable _grin _appeared on his face. It was just a flash; I wasn't even looking directly at him, but I was so sure the way the inner corners of his mouth curved was called a smile.

He showed such a soft—guarded, still, ever-so guarded—expression to his retainer when I, on the other hand, hadn't even had the chance to simply smile at him, let alone him smile at me. What had Koko done to get so friendly to the Young Lord? Would I have to have done the same thing? I shivered at the thought. Knowing Koko he probably cracked jokes every time he saw the Young Lord, or smiled like crazy every second they were together.

By the time I caught up to them, they were still discussing topics unknown to me. _Sumire this, Hotaru that, some guy named Ruka this, blah blah blah blah that. _Before it had dawned on me, I was already trudging behind them a few good feet. The way they glanced back at me as if I hindered them from talking freely made my legs wobble with increasing burden.

"—so I'm staying here. I need you to be a big boy and at least _try _not to irritate your cousin. Alright, Natsume?" Koko cooed like a naggy mother, which I thought was what he was aiming for. All the while, his hand rubbed small circles on the Young Lord's shoulder blade.

The Young Lord reached behind him to lightly smack Koko's touch away and to also shove him aside with enough distance between them so that they wouldn't have the disgusting pleasure to brush on eachother again. "Where are you going to hide them?" He was referring to the recruits.

"The same place where I occupy my unicorn and pet leprechaun," answered Koko so tonelessly it made me do a double-take from a nearby tree to him. "But it may take me a while, so make sure they don't come here soon."

"What about my parents?"

"They're out. Remember the Harada's? The Lord and Mistress are negotiating treaties with them and they won't return until night's fall."

The Young Lord tilted his head back a couple of degrees. I stared at it as the dark, broody strands rode along the wind's whistle. He sighed. "Ten hours..."

"Roughly."

"Make sure Aoi doesn't leave her room."

Koko laughed. "After the last incident there's no damn way she's ever getting close to seeing daylight today."

I stopped walking. My eyes, though, were still glued on the backs of Koko and the Young Lord as they grew smaller and less refined with each they step they pounded onto the field.

I tried not to take offense to the fact they didn't noticed I wasn't following them anymore.

The distance increased, and increased.

And increased.

And increased.

I slugged my shoulders. Never had I felt so out of place before.

* * *

><p>I had been hated in the past. I was used to it. During the little time I spent playing with others when I was younger, I often showed off my extraordinary skills—I always won hide-and-seek. I always kicked the ball too hard in soccer. I always punched someone instead of simply tapping them to tag them 'it'.<p>

Most of these cases I was dealing with adults.

So in easy terms, I could have handled any form of animosity.

I wondered, though, why the waves of hatred the Young Lord emanated towards me that he _obviously _didn't bother to conceal infuriated me.

Especially since we were the only two people walking in the hallways as of this moment, the silentness that lingered around us was almost enough to prevent me from breathing.

We were making ways down the Main Corridor. Koko had left us to ourselves minutes ago. I thought I had prepared myself for the dead silence that would've panned on me, but this...this was _unbearable. _The tension was too near to crushing me like a ten-thousand pound boulder that my knees oscillated with every cautious step.

So, I tried to pay attention to other things. My gaze found itself at everything we passed by, trying to detail the objects so my mind was occupied. A vase—a cylinder of porcelain melted and webbed together to form that of its creator's desire. A painting—an allegory of what circumvented beneath human imagination.

The Young Lord—an aggravating boy who walked too far ahead of me. Who's footsteps didn't echo with mine as it should. Who's mouth never caved to speak when I was the only one he could have spoken to. Who's being I shouldn't had thought of in the first place.

Tap, goes my foot.

Tap, goes his foot.

Tap, mine.

Tap, his.

Why were we so off?

My stare idly drifted to the Young Lord's back, four feet in front of me and if I wasn't mistaken, it kept increasing. I attempted to convince myself that beneath all those damn hard muscles, those stubborn bones, and probably some multitudinous scars laid a beating, breathing heart. A human heart.

He wouldn't had offered to take me to the infirmary when I got my injuries if he didn't have one.

Koko wouldn't be able to smile around him as much as he did now—Koko had a pretty good judgement of people—if he didn't have one.

He would've banished me long ago if he didn't have one.

I wouldn't be trying so hard if I didn't believed he had one.

I'd find it. If I couldn't and he continued to torture me so silently as he did now, then the enumerating pressure of his critical stare would be the death of me.

Once we came at the front of the Main Hall, we stopped short at its doors.

The Young Lord, still maintaining the same distance, turned around to me. "Don't come near me," he ordered.

The sentence was insanely so stupid and _obviously obvious _that I couldn't keep my spiteful tongue in check. "Oh, gee, I wonder what I have been doing these past few minutes then."

For once, the void of emotions on his face made me relieved because if he as much as smirked to my comeback, my pride would have met its downfall. "It's Imai in there," he said, "I don't need two smartasses in the same room as me."

"Yes." So, so far, I knew this Hotaru Imai person was a smartass cousin of his. Alright, good information gathering Mikan.

Oddly enough, I felt an abysmal hole digging through my stomach when I stepped forward of the Young Lord to open the doors. Faintly but strong enough for me to notice were three forces that acted upon me: the Young Lord's steady stare that branded _"I'm watching you"_ on the back of my head, the reveling pressure on my shoulders that heightened because if this Hotaru Imai was anything like her cousin, I'd have to be a double-edged sword to keep myself in tact, and mostly, the disheartening fact that Koko wasn't with us. He was like my anchor. He held me down when all I wanted to do was go up for fresh air from my suffocating surroundings. Without him by me as I was used to at this point, I'd have to find other ways to be able to slip by.

With the thought, I gripped the golden handles harder as I pulled them open towards me.

The doors squeaked against the marble floor, creating a shrill cry. A gust of warm wind flowed into my face and pushed the hair framing my cheeks back to my ears. My dread became worse. For a second, I stood there, motionless, as I gawked at how commodious the Great Hall was; I couldn't believe I had almost overlooked its great size. It's the type of room that one wouldn't exactly call a _room, _but rather a carefully detailed, sleek, box-like, man-made cavern. Along the three walls—the wall that held the entrance not included—that enclosed the Great Hall were extensive windows with thin, metal bars lining and decorating the pannels of glass. Beyond them were spots of green and hints of brown underneath the blue sky that I was positive was another breath-taking view the Great Palace had to offer.

I could have stood here to paint a mental picture.

"Move it."

If it wasn't for the Young Lord rudely barging into my thoughts.

He shoved me out of his way before I had even finished stepping aside. And I did nothing but tolerate him because I didn't dare talk back while his cousin was an audience somewhere in the room.

His cousin, as well as others.

"Natsume!"

Right off the bat, I knew the voice did not belong to the person named Hotaru Imai. Many factors proved this given, but the one that convinced me the most was that it was simply too jovial to be her. I still didn't recall who she was—as I didn't think I would ever—but the fact that she was Natsume Hyuuga's cousin gave me enough information about her personality. Surely, the way the voice had risen and had tweaks of peaceful blithe was proof enough.

Then again, Lady Aoi was straight out of the Young Lord's blood, and she acted like there was nothing wrong with this ugly world.

But there's another factor—the voice belonged to a man.

"Natsume!" it called again.

My eyes followed the body of the Young Lord as he moved away and into the room. He didn't send me a glance or signal to allow me to come in as well, so I stood with hands rigidly glued to my sides where he left me. It seemed like to me, just about_ everyone _called him by his first name. How much farther was I from being at the same base as everyone else?

"Ruka," the Young Lord said as he came up to a blonde boy.

The boy smiled at him—it surprised me because it was just as bright as Koko's. I hadn't begun to think there was another person who was buddy-buddy with the Young Lord. The boy said, "Hey."

I must've been staring. He was handsome, if anything, beautiful. Bright eyes that inherited attributes from the Mother sky. Pale, pale skin. He was clearly nowhere to being as appealing as the Young Lord, but the Young Lord was also clearly nowhere to being as appealing as the boy. Maybe that's why I was staring: he had the distinct aura that lingered around my own master.

Then I was shot. Not by arrows or spears, but something more deadly than that—I felt a pair of eyes _glare _at me with the intention to slaughter. I was instantly into self-defense mode. I consciously moved my gaze to where the source of the threat came from, and I stumbled upon yet another pale, pale face, just inches away from the pretty boy. At first, I thought I was mistaken, and was coaxed to apologize afterwards for sending her—a girl was a girl, no matter the length of her hair; no matter that her hair reached its ends only below her ear—my cautioned glare, but she didn't waver her eyes. She didn't dart away from mine. Only after connecting the dots and making accusations did I realize it was she who barraged me with the glare I found so dangerous earlier.

But how could she had done it? How, with her perfectly calm, perfectly emotionless; _perfectly_ still face?

"Ruka." It took me a second to register she had spoken, her voice like a long thread of rare silk. "That girl was staring at you."

"Who?"

"The one I'm referring to, you idiot."

For half of a momentum, the boy followed the girl's gaze to me, and he and I met each other. I for the second, him for the first. "I—" The words that hopefully explained, not made situations worse, were ready to fly off my tongue when I was abruptly interrupted.

"You."

A girl suddenly advanced close in front of me, blocking my view of the room and the boy with her pick-satin shirt. She moved her face uncomfortably near mine, leaving no room for our breaths to have their own air, and our noses were _literally _right under each other. She looked passively at me with emerald green eyes that shimmered even brighter than her emerald green hair which was twisted at the ends of the fringes. Her arms were overlapped across her chest, a feminine posture that definitely hinted she was judging me.

God, I was so tired of everyone giving me that look. Especially if they were someone I didn't know.

As she stepped closer, I took no step back despite the bewilderedness that rose in me each second. What the hell was she doing? "You," she said again, "who are you?"

I had been asked the question so many times it was almost like a second instinct to answer. "Mikan Sakura."And slowly as the name traveled throughout her brain, realization spread amongst her dainty face. For a minute, she gawked at me, the name finally clicking in place.

"Sakura? From _the _Sakura clan?"

"That's correct." In the moment, all my childhood and immaturity would have had me point a finger right between her eyes and poke her and say, _"Don't you ever forget it."_ But all my training would have had me done so otherwise.

Her stare rivered along my body without a caution or my consent. She wasn't important enough—so far, since I did not know her identity yet—to intimidate me, but I had the needed amount of sense to present myself the best I possibly could. I straightened my spine. I puffed my chest out. I locked my knees.

I didn't know her too well to get her complete approval, as I did not care for it much. But hey, a girl's opinion about another was a whole other ball park.

"Hm," she murmured. The hidden astonishment slowly began to disappear from her expression and too soon, it was gone. "So you're the rumored protector. Mikan Sakura."

I didn't like the way she drawled my name out, spiting it in all its honor, glory, and fame. "May I ask who you are?" I asked levelly.

She stared at me for a period of time again; I felt all pairs of eyes in the room on us, even the Young Lord's. "Natsume," she called out. _Damn it, even this crude girl, who_ crudely _interrupted me__ called him by his given name. _"Is she _actually_ your protector?"

"Sumire, stop being rude to her," said a voice so smooth and angelic it just had to belong to the blonde boy. Ruka, was it?

"I mean, she's so _scrawny." _She frowned with a critical eye exploring me vertically once more. The edge on her outspoken tone was seriously starting to annoy me. "Just look! The sword's so heavy on her hip, her body's tilting. Hah! I'm disappointed. She's such a joke. "

Of course, she was lying. I knew best that there wasn't an inch of my body out of place. It's just that I was too occupied trying to figure out what I had done to get her this angry. I usually didn't make enemies with people I had met seconds earlier unless I was sent to do just that, so it really irritated me being treated the way I was by someone who didn't have a single clue about me. "Excuse me, but it seems like you didn't hear me the first time." I stepped closer, making intimidation my best friend at the moment. I hissed, "Who are you?"

She stood her ground. "Sumire Shouda," she proclaimed with a smirk tugging at her lips. Her hands instantly shot up to her waist as her hip jutted out to her right. I almost barfed. "I would say it's my pleasure to meet you, but I promised my grandma I would never lie."

That was it. She didn't like me. For what, I didn't know, but she _did _not like me. And my morals stated that whoever didn't like me, I wouldn't like them. "Maybe you should've promised her you'd grow up to be pretty instead," I retorted. I was surprised to hear a short chuckle that followed, and both mine and Sumire's eyes darted to the perpetrator. Again, it was the girl with the raven cropped hair, but she was still beside Ruka with the same, unmoving, emotionless scowl I saw her with before. If she had laughed, then I'd missed it. It was the second time I missed her in action—she was quick.

"Yeah, I didn't," Sumire started as she rotated back to me, "because I knew I wasn't going to be pretty. I was going to be _gorgeous."_ I felt my eyeballs roll over in their sockets as she dramatically flipped her hair over her shoulder. "And hey, look at me now."

"I'd rather not."

She shot me a glare. "Looking at you ain't so wonderful either."

I didn't get it. I didn't do anything to offend her as far as I knew, and as I racked through my memories momentarily, I didn't think we knew each other in the past—she had no reason whatsoever to act like the way she acted towards me. I remembered Mother saying to me one day that these kinds of girls were the ones I wouldn't want to acquaint myself with. I would've known since their trademark attitudes—cocky, vain, could piss you off in no time—were a dead giveaway. She said that they brought others down just to make themselves feel better. That they walked, talked, _lived _for attention. She said she was friends with one of those girls. She said they ended up hating each other. She said she regretted it. Me? I didn't want to regret anything. "I'm done talking to you. Please leave."

"_Excuse me?"_ she gasped. Shit. Maybe my plan backfired.

"I don't mean to offend. I just don't want to continue this conversation when I know where it'll end up."

She narrowed her eyes to string-thick slits. "You're so damn rude, you know that?" _Yeah, sure, 'cause I go up to people I don't know and just randomly start criticizing them in their faces. _"I bet your parents spoiled you. That's so typical of royalty—disgusting."

My hands clenched the fabric clothing my thighs. "You do _not _bring my parents into this." I wanted to tell her I wasn't born with their love, I had to fight for it; bleed for it; risk my life for it. I didn't want her looking at me as if I was raised up like some blonde-haired, blue-eyed princess in the land of happiness. But if I said anymore than I did, I wouldn't be able to stop.

But, thank God. _T__hank, thank God._ She didn't respond after I spoke, and the way her mouth was a neutral line hinted she might not have the intention to do so anymore. Thank, thank God. She sighed and quickly casted a glance on the floor, rapidly bringing it back up to me. "Look, I haven't known you for a very long time," she said. "Hell, I haven't even known you for a minute, so it's not that I don't like you...Okay, well _maybe_ it is." She paused. "It is, actually. But to be fair, I'll give you the reason why." She touched my hair and brought a lock of it up to her face. I immediately yanked it back, making her smile a mischievous grin. "It's because you remind me of _them,_" she continued. She took a foot and brought it behind her, her body following last. As she gave my face room again, I breathed in free air for what seemed like the longest time. "You're a _fucking _lap dog." She glared as fire engulfed her words. "You're so much like those bastards that I don't think you even want to know how much I want to strangle you on the spot."

Them? Who was them? "You're not making yourself clear."

"Oh, I don't have to," she hissed with venom coating her every word. I knitted my brows together. "_They _didn't make themselves clear when they took her. _They _absolutely had no reason to snatch her from us." Her arm did a semi-circle in the direction of Ruka, the girl, and the Young Lord. "And _they _didn't even give one damn that they didn't make themselves clear. Who the fuck do you think you are, Sakura Heiress, that you deserve to receive reason?"

I stared at her. Into her. Something deep below her eyes danced in melancholy circles, shrieking and begging to be free of the cycle of despair, and though she scowled as if I was the most horrid thing to look at, her eyes held a wounded passion I swear I'd seen before. But where? _Where? Where?_

...Koko. That was where. Er, who.

_"Maybe," he sighed, "it's because you resemble Lady Hibari in the most unlikely ways."_

_Koko's smile retreated until there was only a bit of a curve left, so small it's hard to notice. His voice was weaved in a blanket of melancholy bittersweetness, which only attracted my interest more. "Who?"_

_His eyes slowly drew to meet mine and for a second, they lingered there. It was so distant—he wasn't seeing me. He was seeing someone else. Then, as if he realized what he just said, his hand flew to his mouth, appalled. "It's—it's no one! I w-was just…lost in my thoughts, is all."_

Koko's eyes mirrored Sumire's at the moment, and I had to consider back to _when _I had seen it on him. It was a couple days ago, when I was still admitted to the recovery room. We were talking...about Aoi?...and why she seemed to get extremely attached to me, like she'd known my presence and lived it her whole life.

_"It's because you remind her of Lady Hibari so much," _he had said as I remembered once more.

I focused my attention to Sumire again, analyzing it to make sure I wasn't wrong. Her gaze wavered, unlike before, and surprisingly enough, she was on the verge of tears. I had nearly forgotten the past few seconds when I saw her eradicated expression. It was no question—whoever this Lady Hibari was, she was on Sumire's mind, driving Sumire to her state right now.

"Sumire." Ruka walked up to us, evidently getting in the middle, and gently laid a hand on her suddenly shaking shoulders. "Stop it. She's not them. She's not him."

Sumire flung her heated glare to him. Gradually, ever so slowly, her face softened as the angry lines began to disappear one by one and was replaced by dejected streaks along the inner edges of her brows. She hung her head low , biting her bottom lip so hard I thought it would bleed. "I know," she murmured. "I fucking know. I'm not stupid, Ruka."

"Then why are you acting like she is?"

"Because—Because...damn it, because she _is_ him."

"No, she's not."

"I know!" Her head hurled up, her eyes now hurt as she looked at me again. "But what she does...her job?" She let out a dark, sarcastic laugh. "I don't think I could ever stand looking at her. And I have no idea why you can, Natsume."

In what seemed like a prolonged time the Young Lord stirred. He made his way to us from across the room as the girl followed. They kept their distance from eachother. The Young Lord halted behind Sumire and the girl beside Ruka, keeping a keen, purple-hazed eye on me. "It's not easy," the Young Lord murmured.

Ruka shot him a look I didn't understand—it was mixed with warning, and yet it was like he was pleading him to stop. "I'm Ruka Nogi, by the way," he introduced, turning and smiling at me. I feebly smiled back. Under the circumstances, I didn't think I could come up with a genuine smile. Not after what happened. "Heir to the Nogi clan. Pleasure to meet you."

I took his held-out hand and shook it. "Mikan Sakura. Heir to the Sakura clan. Likewise."

He ushered the other girl in front me, making sure we were making direct contact. "And this is Hotaru Imai. Also heir to her clan, the Imai's," he said so full with admiration and audible lust it made me look even carefully at this Hotaru Imai person, who I finally realized was the Young Lord's cousin. Staring at her up close and personal, I concluded that I really didn't know her—maybe her name just resembled some other person's. Maybe. And only when she was this near to me did I realize her fine, doll-like features. She had large, bright eyes that were perfect for her face structure. But everything about her, though kicking and alive, was almost..._dead. _No emotion dancing around her lips. She was practically staring at me like how a blank piece of paper would be. Then I recalled her glaring at me a few minutes back. She seemed like such a sweet girl, I found it hard to believe it was ac—

"She's also my girlfriend."

Oh. That was why.

I stuck my hand out to her, radiating off another one of my fraudulent grins. "I'm Mikan Sakura, Lady Hotary. Pleasure to meet you." _And trust me, I wasn't staring at your boyfriend for the reasons you might think._

She trailed her inanimate gaze down my arm to my awaiting hand, letting seconds pass by. When she locked stares with me once more, she immediately flung hers away with a slight scowl coming upon her mouth. "Just because I didn't bitch out to you like Sumire," she sighed breezily. I instantly went rigid, "doesn't mean I'm willing to be friends with you. I hate you just as much as anyone in the room."

My hand gradually dropped back down to my side, shock and and hopelessness engulfing me rapidly at the moment. That was three out of four—if Ruka's generosity was authentic—people in the room who didn't like me, and it was for reasons I didn't even know. It was one of those times when I wished so hard my heart would break that someone would take my hand and tell me _it's going to be okay, no matter how bad things get. _Toshiro always did that. "I'm...I'm sorry." I didn't have a clue why I was apologizing.

"Don't be," Ruka said. "Right Hota_ru?" _He bent down low to her ear and hissed the last syllable of her name strongly. He waited for her to turn her head, but once she made it evident she wouldn't surrender to him, he sighed and looked at me apologetically. "I'm sorry for her."

"No. It—It's okay."

He presented a gesturing hand to Sumire. "This is Sumir—"

"We've met," she cut in sharply.

"She's Hotaru's retainer." Sumire also avoided my gaze when I tried to meet hers.

"And I figure you already know who Natsume is."

Expectedly, our eyes crashed against each other's when they met. By now, I had already known how he was the type to face people head on, all mostly because of my past experiences with him. He observed me coldly, as I wondered how I looked to him when I felt my brows come together with confusion pulling them. And when I sucked in the inside of my jaw, I knew I probably resembled a wounded puppy. The only thought that ran in my mind when I observed him back was:

_What the hell have you gotten me into?_

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><p><em>Alrightt, so I'm doing these new thing called <span>Chapter Sneak<span> Peeks. I think you guys know what it means.(;_

* * *

><p><em>Preview:<em>

_"Mikan? Natsume! Where are you guys going?"_

I don't know. I just can't lose him, Koko. I can't.

_My breathe caught in my throat, and my feet began moving themselves faster and faster when he disappeared around a corner._

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><p><em>Ugh. Sorry it's really short, but anymore would give away the next chapterrr. <em>

_So, seems like the Sumire is the most feared one in this chapter, not Hotaru.(; Tricked you guys, didn't I? But don't worry, Hotaru is even scarier in the near future!_

_Thank you so much for reading, and I know I don't say this enough but you guys are so incredible for always reviewing a story that I wouldn't even have continued if you all didn't take your time to read it. Ugh, I love you guys.3_

_Please revieewww, cause whoever gets the 75th review, I will use their name in the story!(: No lie, I promise! _

_Stay smexy!_


	7. Getting to Know them Better

_Alrightt. New chapter guysss! Lol, I read your reviews from chapter 6 and you all reaaallyyyy seemed pissed off by how Sumire, Hotaru, and Natsume treated her! It's okay, that's what I was aiming for.(; Things will get better for Mikan, I promise! It's just that she'd have to work a little harder than most princesses to get her happy ending._

_Enjoy!_

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><p>A while after the stares they all gave me that lingered on my body for five whole minutes—Sumire's particularly a <em>death <em>stare—they talked about what they were doing here unannounced. Ruka was the one to explain everything since I figured both Sumire and Hotaru were still too busy breaking my skin down with the heat from their eyes; I was glad Hotaru hid her animosity behind her expressionless facade. I tried to pay attention to Ruka, because anything the Young Lord knew, I did as well—er, at least, I tried—but the most I made out was that they were visiting to make the Young Lord go shopping with them.

Shopping.

_"Since Hotaru's birthday is coming up," _said Ruka,_ "I thought I could have Natsume show me around some great places to buy gifts. But Hotaru found out, and I guess she doesn't trust my taste because she's coming along to make sure I get her something 'worth while'."_

So, staying true to their word, Ruka, Sumire, Hotaru, the Young Lord and I all made a short travel down to one of the nearby villages, where its trading district was one of the best I knew. And thankfully, Koko was able to come. He said that he finally found a place that was substantial enough to withheld twenty agitated peasants. I asked him who was watching them, just in case they got any funny ideas in those uneducated brains of theirs. He told me it was Naru.

I prayed so, so hard - despite that I had nothing to do with the whole situation - that Naru wouldn't become his good-natured self and leave them for a minute to go fetch them some dinner.

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><p><em>Making my way downtown<em>  
><em>Walking fast<em>  
><em>Faces pass<em>  
><em>And I'm home bound<em>  
><em>Staring blankly ahead<em>  
><em>Just making my way<em>  
><em>Making a way<em>  
><em>Through the crowd<em>

-A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton

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><p><em>Chapter VII: Getting to Know Them Better<em>

We were walking down the Great palace steps, the sun just hitting us at the perfect angle so its blazing heat wouldn't be so much of a burden.

It was in the middle of being close to nightfall, and the problem with that was that the town we were heading to wasn't the safest place for the Young Lord and his royal friends to roam about at darkness's whim. Baltrolan, as it was commonly called, was known for its unique collection of gadgets, clothing, footwear, and many other goods. But it was also filled with people who desired such things with no pocket money to spend. Thieves, kidnappers, burglars, swindlers, and very few sentinels to keep good over bad made Baltrolan the very city that it was - dangerous, yet you couldn't help but be attracted to it.

We'd have to get this "shopping" business done fast.

"So, delight me again, why does _she_ have to come?" called Sumire over her shoulder to refer to me. She was trudging at the very front, and walking behind her in order was Ruka and Hotaru, the Young Lord, and Koko and I enclosing the group from the back. Sumire's lazy pace was slowing us—the way she swiveled her pelvis like it was the most amazing body part of all time didn't help—but maybe the only one who got irritated by it was me.

"The same reason why you came along," Ruka answered.

She scoffed with a nasty tongue to edge her bitterness, which only made me emphasize my eye roll even more. "Wow, that's crazy! I didn't know the _oh-so _almighty protector of the Hyuuga heir goes bra shopping. Hey, wanna come with? I'm _dying _to get my hands on new pairs, you know?" She abruptly stopped, almost making Hotaru bump into her. Sumire turned to me and scowled. "Whoops. I forgot, I would rather _die _than do anything with you."

"Stop it, Sumire," said Koko. He nudged me in the elbow. "Sorry. She's not usually this mean."

I wondered then what made her so stingy, but no matter how much I attempted to cloud my mind of the truth, I knew that it was me that caused her attitude. _I didn't know why exactly, _I just couldn't deny my feminine intuition.

With anything else, I could've: I didn't bat an eyelash when I cut my hair short (I needed to cut it again soon. It was too distracting to have it always hit the lower of my back every time I moved). I didn't sculpt my body to be the spitting image of Aphrodite's (More likely, it's like Aires's - a body born from the hellish flames of war). But if it was about hatred from another of the same sex, I couldn't have been any more sharper. Mother_ had _always said that girls were exceptional at hiding their true feelings, so I had to be extra wary of their hidden, inner beasts.

Women. I swore we're like devils exposed in broad daylight yet no one seemed to notice. "It's fine," I answered.

Behind the spiteful, green-haired hip-swinger, I spotted Ruka trying to wrap a loving arm around his girlfriend _again_ for about the tenth time, and she smacked it away for the eleventh (Ruka's first attempt didn't even near her body). And despite the negative gesture, he still looked down at her with the same passion as if he had loved her all his life. They were an odd couple. "I think you're cold," Ruka conveyed.

She shivered against his shoulder. "I am cold. I'm tired. I'm sore. I'm _done."_

He sighed, his love for her evident and my confusion even more. It didn't take a fool to realize that this was her normal temper and it didn't take another to conceive it was her only one. Maybe that was a good thing. I was positive it was bad. "Then you shouldn't have come. I told you that we weren't taking carriages there."

"Stupid. If I didn't come God _forbid_ you go and buy me something as useless as a summer hat."

"I was going to buy you those blueprints you wanted; the ones you needed to build that contraption of yours? I know you've been searching for it and one of my servants finally got a hold of it."

She cocked a sideway glance at Ruka, and he in return, smiled like it was the most romantic thing she had ever done. "Well," she continued, "I'm here to make sure you buy me just that."

He secretly laughed. It made my heart ache. "Whatever you say."

"Get. A. Fucking. _Room."_ Sumire interrupted, throwing her head in the air. "I hope you know you're in p_uuuu_blic."

"They weren't even doing anything, Sumire."

She quickly directed her hot gaze behind her, past the couple and past the Young Lord, over to me and Koko. Briefly, her eyes met mine but they then traveled over to the person beside me. "I wasn't talking to you, Yume."

"You're so innocent," toyed Koko. A mischievous smirk appeared on his face when he saw her glare at him intensify even more. After giving me a slap on the back for a farewell, he quickened his steps to catch up to her, leaving me in the dust. He looped around the three bodies that stood in his way and matched his steps with Sumire's own when he came to her. The minute she ruffled her perfectly twisted hair and begrudgingly tried to push him at least twenty feet away a frown crept above my smile.

"Koko, get away from me," she said, shoving him off. "You're too close."

"See?" Koko teased as her pushes measly moved him a centimeter. "Just being this close to me gets you blushing. Ah! Is it because I'm a sex-god?"

"I _said_ you're too close!"

Koko told me a lot about Sumire - as he did with Hotaru and Ruka a few minutes ago, but he spent a considerable amount of time on her. He explained how she became Hotaru's retainer, how she passed Hotaru's "test of worthiness" that was rumored to be impossible, and how she did all of it when she was only twelve. She's seventeen now. He also said to be cautious of her. That her fangs would kill me if mine didn't kill her first. What confused me, though, was that he _forbid_ me to hurt her. _"Mikan, I like you, but if you ever try what you did to me when we first met to Sumire, I...Just please, don't."_

In his eyes came this bright shimmer that consisted of determination. But something about it was so obviously tender and caring that it almost seemed like he was begging me to control myself around Sumire. I knew I wasn't going to hurt her, nor would I ever, and he knew that just as well as I did, but he didn't look away before he heard my answer. _"O...Okay. Okay, Koko, I won't lay a finger on her."_

_"Thank you."_

He liked her. He really did. I just hadn't exactly figured out what he saw in her though.

"Kokoro Yume, I _swear _you are the most insufferable, most annoying _boy _I have ever met! How many times do I have to say you are FAR too close!"

Poor Koko. Keep going, you're almost there.

I think.

And despite the distractions that were the other four, I managed to make sure I walked directly behind the Young Lord. If not directly and a little space between us was a must, then I made sure that only oxygen occupied the gap. Nothing else. No human, no leaves, no trees, no shadows. Once in a while, though, my consciousness got the better of me and I was in too deep thinking about my master the next second—_so quiet, so guarded, so mysterious, so beautiful, so beastly. _To try to avoid that because I knew I was getting on shaky ground if I stayed on the subject, I made it my endeavor to look at other things.

I was, after all, trolling down one of the most gorgeous sights in the Three Lands.

But it proved to be useless, for neither the glorious sun, the moon that seemed to be transparent, nor the stretches of land could drive me away from him. He just drew my mind towards him with a force of gravity so strong that I couldn't fight it. He had this presence - he couldn't be ignored, and it was as if his body made it a goal to make sure everyone knew that.

I spotted the base of his neck rotating to his side to angle his chin as his head was the last to move. He repeated the action towards his left. Then back to his right. Intrigued, I continued to watch him circle to and fro until the idea finally clicked in my mind.

And it was only then, that despite he was here right in front of me and despite that his back was turned, he was everywhere else. Anywhere else.

Somehow, I was able to conceive that he looked farther out than any of us. He was probably seeing the South Sea now. Or the church bell. Or the neighboring kingdom of the Sho family.

"Natsume?" called Ruka.

The Young Lord's strides were paced, continuous; hands in pockets as if the next ruler of the Three lands going out for a shopping stroll with his protector and friends was a normal thing. As ever, the wind favored those dark, broody yet _so _captivation hair strings of his. It swirled around the nape of his neck, and rode up to tickle his ears. He was unaware of everything. How could he have been so oblivious?

And, still as ever, the rhythm of our steps didn't synchronize. As ever.

Tap, goes my foot.

Tap, goes his.

"Natsume."

Here I was, partly desperate to befriend him and to come to a mutual understanding that the both of us would have to join hands in order for this protector-master thing to work. But then there he was, far away from my whatever I was prepared to offer. He distanced himself, and whenever he would look at me, he'd do so with a murderous glow.

Sometimes, though, he'd also look at me with the same stare that everyone had given me ever since I came to the Great Palace. It was like they were seeing someone else.

It was like _he_ was seeing someone else.

And whenever he did that, his expression softened—no too much—and just barely, I could make out a faint bittersweet frown. It'd always disappear as quick as it came so I could never have been sure.

"Natsume."

"What, Ruka?" the Young Lord sighed.

"How far away is the village?"

"It won't make it any closer if I told you."

Ruka looked at him from over his shoulder. "Won't kill you if you answer a question honestly for once."

I shifted my gaze from the Young Lord to him. Then I blurted out, "About a fifteen minute's walk." I didn't know why I did. Ruka just looked very uncomfortable when his girlfriend kept frowning every three steps. "I also know a path that takes us through a forest, so it'll be more cooler if we took it."

Ruka smiled. "Thank you. Would you like to lead us then?"

All of a sudden I felt Sumire's hot glare whip me across the head, for I was too familiar to not know what it was by now. I turned to her, and _"oddly"_ enough, she had on the most nastiest, most invidious scowl while she met my eyes. I gulped. "Sorry, but I think Sumire over there has been leading us to that very path from the beginning."

"Was she really?"

"Yes."

_No._ Actually, Sumire was guiding us straight down the worst possible way to the village. I could tell from the direction she kept going at she intended of going down the midway pass. It was a crevasse between hills, and because sunlight bounced off the faces of the iron rocks, heat was immediately catapulted to the valley. It was rocky, steep; dangerous because bandits were likely to come and rob us...that was if the coyotes couldn't find us first.

But I was sure after I mentioned the forest path, Sumire had enough sense to take my route instead. She wasn't prideful, I'd hoped, to the point where she'd push her Mistress's needs aside just to satisfy her self-esteem.

I found the the Young Lord eying me the next instant, though lacking the emotion that had always came with it. "Yes?" I asked him.

He didn't respond, and all I could do was to look back at him and try not to quiver under his speculation. When he finally broke it off, I let out a breathe I didn't even know I was holding in.

This—this whole _I'm going to look at you and I won't say anything _business was not working.

"So," Ruka decided to start in the breadth of a ten-second's silence, "tell me about yourself, Mikan. I just noticed that I know nothing of the woman who's protecting my dearest friend."

I cleared my throat. "I'm rather a bore to listen to."

"Nonsense. Even if you are, I'll force myself to ask questions to kept the rhythm going." He grinned at me from over his shoulder.

I inwardly smiled. He was trying - trying harder than any of us here - to lift the heavy atmosphere. He must've noticed that it was most abundant around the Young Lord and I. Slowly and then gaining speed each second, the details about my life began fluttering in, and I did my best to organize them in my head fast. "Well, as you may know, I am the heir of the Sakura clan."

"Yes, I do, as so does everyone else."

"And it's pretty obvious, but do you know why so many people know?"

"...Yes, I do, as so does everyone else. It's because yo - "

" -Are the first girl born into the male-dominant Sakura clan. Yes."

His feet shuffled as I felt the ground beneath the soles of my shoes minutely shake from his action. "You act like it's a horrible thing."

I almost laughed. "Sir, it _is."_

"Hey," Sumire butted in. She jabbed a hateful thumb in my direction, and I didn't have to look at her face to know that she was frowning. She was always frowning at me. "Be grateful you're a girl, Sakura Heiress. We cannot be anymore luckier being born as the fragile property of mankind."

"You? Fragile?" proclaimed Koko with utter disbelief. "Then I guess a boulder the size of Mount Fuji is fragile as well, hm?"

Her thumb tore away from me and cut the air sharply as her fist traveled to impact Koko's arm in a second's passing. She had done it so quickly and agile it made me wince as if I was at the receiving end.

"_OW!"_ Koko shouted at the top of his lungs. "Ow, ow,_ ow! _What the hell, Sumire? Can't you take a joke? Ow, get your hand off me!" He tried prying Sumire's hard fist away from the area she hit him on, but she wouldn't budge. Koko jumped and hollered in his place, causing the people behind him—Ruka, Hotaru (much to her annoyance), the Young Lord, and I; basically everyone—to stop. "Sumire!"

She glared at him with eyes like stone before she drew her hand back. "Shut up, Yume." She blew on her knuckles and shook it as if trying to rid of the dirt on its surface.

Ruka clicked his tongue at them, signaling them that they were being rude. Sumire merely shrugged her shoulder at him as Koko was too busy rubbing his hand up and down his arm to notice Ruka's indication. "I apologize," he said to me. "They have these kinds of quarrels often. "Over his voice, Sumire snapped, _"What do you mean _'these kinds of quarrels'_ Ruka?"_ but he drowned her beneath him.

"I do not mind," I replied

"But she does have a point. Why do you think being a girl is so horrible?"

I sighed. Telling him the weaknesses women had was exactly telling him the weaknesses _I _had. During the sixteen years that I had lived upon the face of the earth, I had lots of time to accumulate my fears. Personal ones, general ones. Physical ones, Emotional ones. Self-confidence. Self-infliction. Self-benevolence. Strength. Speed. might. Intelligence. Although my family members viewed me as one of the most legitimate successors to the clan, how I viewed myself was a whole other story.

Though it would have had pained me too much for the Young Lord and his friends to look at me with pity oozing out of their gazes if I had told them of my insecurities, I realized that Ruka was trying. He attempted to lighten the march to Baltrolan as much as he could because he hated the silence as much as the jitter bug of the Sakura clan did.

So I answered as much as a limited answer I could give him. My thoughts began paraphrasing themselves into words. "The capabilities of a woman is much more limited than those of a man's. We are weaker, slower, more under-privileged, and our monthly bleedings don't exactly he—"

"—_Okay!_ Don't need to hear that," SUmire interjected loudly, appalled.

I turned to her only to find her glare already catching my gaze. She squinted harder, more menacingly, and briefly I thought it was because the departing sun casted its harmful rays right in her face, but after she mouth the words to me, I had finally caught on.

_He's a guy, Sakura Heiress. A guy._

I knew that. "...Right. As I was saying because I was the first girl, I had to make up for that. Thus I trained harder than any of the boys, _any_, and I learned to live like I carried the instincts of a man. My caretaker, Toshiro, raised me like that. He made me who I am today and I don't think I would be the same if he didn't go as hard on me."

"What about your parents? Didn't they spoil you and such?"

"Oh,_ heavens _no. My father, and my mother at one point, both hated me. They thought at the beginning that since they gave birth to a female child the prosperity of the Sakura clan would collapse. And I guess because of that I felt that I needed to better myself."

Ruka smiled at me, though a bittersweet smile. He was trying to feel my pain. N_o one_ could burden the insecurity I burdened back then, but I appreciated his effort. "You're so brave," he softly said.

"Not brave. Just driven."

"So, now tell me, if you weren't forced to protect Natsume's life - not that he has one - what would you be doing?" He quickly flashed a teasing grin at the aforementioned name, but the Young Lord was too busy _not_ caring about what he said to notice. Ruka turned away, laughing as if he was used to it.

A tiny grin sprouted on my face, and despite that only Ruka was talking to me, I felt as if all the others were suddenly listening in as well. "Since my family is specifically those of ninjas I would've been trained to assassinate either way. So speaking in relative terms, I would probably be working under the guise of a clan spy."

"Oh, s—"

"Yes. I wouldn't want to do anything else, either."

He nodded his head. "Mhm. Great. Loyal girls like you are very hard to find these days."

My heart immediately clenched as a deep chuckle erupted from within the pits of my stomach. God, his words couldn't have had been anymore truer. "It's not just girls, good sir."

* * *

><p>"Oh, my God, I want this!" Sumire exclaimed, holing a satin-edged comb up to her eyes to magnify its beauty. "No, scratch that, I <em>need<em> this."

Five heads turned to her, including mine, and four pairs of shoulders shrugged in exasperation. "We're leaving," called Ruka from over his shoulder. This was about the infinite time she had stopped to examine goods that were either shiny, bejeweled, or _crazy _expensive. Last time, she drew us back because of a bundle of hair ornaments that were apparently up for a good bargain. And before that, it was because of lacy, frilly, "size-enhancing" lingerie, all mostly bras.

At least she wasn't a lier.

"No, wait! I still haven't bought it ye—...Fuck, I have no money!"

"Sumire," Ruka drawled, already leading the group away from the merchant's stand. And because I was still at the tail-end, I kept an eye on her to make sure she eventually got back with us.

She clicked her tongue against her teeth as she bounced on the front points of her shoes. "Hold it for me, will you?" she murmured to the merchant who, afterwards, rolled his eyes as if he already knew she wouldn't come back. "I'll kill you if you sell it to someone else!" She scurried away and eventually caught up to us, though wearing a grimace that evidently showed her disappointment. She took the lead once more at the head of our group, but unlike fifteen minutes ago, she hurried her pace with curious eyes glancing back and forth at the stands we passed by on both of our sides.

"We're not here for you," sighed Koko. He was back to being by my side - during Sumire's sudden outbursts of squeaks after spotting certain trinkets worthy enough to catch her undivided attention, Koko's ears were about ready to burst. He was still rubbing the inside of them, attempting to rid of the high-pitched ringing in his ears.

"Shut up, Yume. It's not like we're here for you, either."

He raised an eyebrow. "I know? I didn't do anyth—"

"_OH!" _she interjected. She clapped her hands like a wet seal as a bright, excited smile butter-spread itself across the lower half of her glowing face. "_Oh, oh oh!_ Hotaru, you _have _to buy that for me! Like, I realize we're here to get your birthday present and all, but _oh,_ those sandals are absolutely to die for!"

I nudged Koko in the elbow. "Is she always like this whenever she shops?" I whispered as we watched her stray away again.

"Yeah. Thankfully, she's keeping it on the down-low since she knows you're here and she doesn't want to make a fool of herself."

I bulged my eyes. "_This_ is on the down-low?"

He smiled. "Pretend like it is. If she figures out that you saw through her, then she'd see no point in hiding anymore. And trust me, a Sumire on the prowl is worse than any kind of predator you'd wanna butt heads with."

I drew my brows together and quirked the corner of my lips, but I said nothing more as to why she cared what I thought of her. She _loathed _me, so therefore, my opinions shouldn't have had put restraints on her actions.

"Oh my, _God._ Sir, sir, excuse me, but is there any chance that you could hold onto this for me? I promise I'll be back with money later! Yeah, yeah?"

Obviously, I was but a mere speck of dust in her sapphire-emerald eyes that burned when she saw only my face.

I dragged my attention left to right, and casually behind my shoulder whenever I got the chance. It's been an hour since we'd arrived in Baltrolan, and the crowd hadn't lessened at all. There were too many people around us; the alleyway was too small and crowded with shops filling every spot on the sides. The group was barely together, with the Young Lord drifting off by himself too far off to the right, and Ruka and Hotaru walking too far ahead. Sumire didn't help, either. At every unfamiliar face I passed, I saw lines of betrayal and frowns that spoke of being in abysmal debt etched on their skin. People walked with no courtesy, talked like a barbarian; once in a while, I saw ruffians acting as brutal as they can be as they ransacked all sorts of stands whose merchants were too old and helpless to do anything.

I wanted to aid this one merchant that we passed by minutes ago. He was old and frail and he looked like he was about to cross the other side anytime soon. Unfortunately, though, his stand was being raided by a young, drunk guy who probably didn't have a mother to tell him to be polite to his elders. Koko saw it, too. We wanted to help very, very badly, but before we could even lift a finger, the Young Lord, who was closest than any of us to the in-progress-of-being-in-ruins stand, raised an arm and grabbed a handful of the ruffian's back collar and dragged him away. The ruffian, shouting colorful words of surprise and anguish, couldn't break away from the Young Lord's strong grasp. And to my utter bewilderment, the Young Lord then shoved the ruffian to both Koko and I, sending us a hard gaze that burned _he's yours._

As we walked away punching and scolding the ruffian that apologized over and over, the merchant kept screaming "_Thank you! Thank you so very much!" _at the top of his hoarse voice. His arms waved like ocean waters in the air as a smile that was missing too many teeth appeared on his face. Koko and I waved back and acknowledged him. The Young Lord, on the other hand, merely continued to stride away.

Hands in pocket.

Head leaned back.

Spine curved and leisurely relaxed.

_Nice._

The sun was almost setting, leaving behind a trail of bloody red and subtle touches of peachy apricot. Lining the iotas of the sun's rays were thin borders of strident lavender that clashed like thunder with the soft edges of the passing-by clouds. If I wasn't so worried about getting all of our asses back in the palace by night's dawn, I would've stopped to admire such a beautiful afternoon's closing.

"Hotaru," Ruka started, "don't you want anything else? Look, the pattern of that fabric would look lovely on you." He lead his girlfriend to a stand, ignoring her grunts of unsatisfactory. Koko and I had no choice but to follow them, but I stayed behind the Young Lord to be certain he wouldn't go off by himself. He saw me following him, rolled his eyes with his lids half-closed, and walked to position himself by Koko. Koko gave me a smile after he realized what I had done, and that he should've done the same as well.

"No, Ruka, I want to get this done fast."

"How much is this, madam?" Ruka kindly asked the merchant in charged.

The merchant, lost in eying the beauty of the blonde-haired angel and the dark, captivating devil that stood in the back of him, attempted to speak. "S-seventy-five dwells, sir."

"We'll take it."

The girl stood there, staring in those deep globes of his for a second or two, then regaining the senses back in her brain, she nodded her apple-hued head excitedly. "T-thank you, sir! Right away, sir!" She ran around her tiny little stand, gathering the necessities to wrap the fabric.

"Thank you."

Hotaru looked up to Ruka. "I said I didn't want it."

"But it looks wonderful on you! And since we're here, it might as well be added to your closet. Those kinds of patterns are hard to find, you know." He kissed the crown of her head. "You're welcome."

Hotaru sighed and crossed her arms on top of her chest. "Just get the blueprints you said you're getting for my birthday and let's go."

_Yes, yes, I agree._

He frowned at her, even when happiness was still evident in his eyes. "I said you're welcome."

"And I said let's go."

He shrugged his shoulders, already giving up what I wasn't even sure could be called a lover's quarrel when one side was so vulnerable against the other. "Fine." He took the fabric that was all nicely wrapped now from the merchant and began to saunter away, a hand on Hotaru's shoulder. "Let's go—"

"Hotaru, Ruka! Look, look what I got!"

Everyone's attention turned swiftly to the source of the voice. Sumire's forest green curls could be spotted from a distance as she run up to us, all giddy while holding a set of pink-gold bras and two pairs of underwear that were obviously too revealing. And small. She waved them high in the air, not even turning a shade of embarrassment as she made her items visible to the beastly eyes of the men that she passed.

"Look!" She came to a sloppy halt in front of her master, Hotaru. "Isn't this just _adorable?"_

"Sumire! Put those goddamn things away! You're not in the freaking stripper club!" yelled Koko. He went up to her and tried to coax her to hide them somewhere—inside her shirt, her pants, even her voluminous hair—anything would do just as long as they were hidden away.

I started to feel uncomfortable. Her shouts of delight plus the view of her lingerie that the men around definitely found a _delight_ in attracted too much attention to our group. Even Hotaru, who was usually a satin doll, began scowling at her retainer.

"Koko, piss off." She glared at him. "You're not my mom."

"No, but I am a man like all these other men here._" _He rotated an extended arm to the crowd of males that were idly beginning to grow larger by each second Sumire had her stuff out in the open. "And I know goddamn well what's running through their minds. I don't think you even wanna _know_."

"Sumire," said Hotaru as Ruka severely attempted not to look. He shifted his stare on the ground, towards the sky and anywhere else but in front of him. "I am ordering you. Put those away."

She immediately pouted and crossed her arms in dismay, but she knew she couldn't disobey her master's orders. She began to tuck them away inside her shirt. Didn't the merchant give her a bag?

"Where did you get them anyways? I thought you had no money," Koko asked, relaxing as soon as Sumire's precious gifts were out of sight.

"I don't."

"Then how'd you get them?"

A mischievous smirk etched itself on her mouth. She dramatically flipped her curls over her shoulder with a breezy hand. "Men are such simpletons. Show them a little cleavage and they'll give you absolutely anything."

I hadn't meant to, but as soon as she said the word_ cleavage _my eyes directed themselves to her chest.

Pft, she was lying. She had none.

No offense, of course.

On her hip, her sword was just a bit off of its sheath. The silver glow of her blade peaked out of its cover as a tiny piece of golden cloth hung onto the edge, and after I made the connections I couldn't suppress my laugh.

Sumire turned to me. "What?"

"Nothing."

_I bet all my family's fortune she threatened the merchant. I swear, I'm willing to bet on that fact._

Ruka coughed. "Alright, now that Sumire's..._belongings_ are put away, let's move on. Hotaru's present is just a little bit farther away." I quickly did a head-check, making sure no one was missing from our group of six. And when I finished, I nodded to him. "Good. Let's go." He escorted Hotaru while the rest of us followed closely behind. Sumire withdrew herself in the back of them as she couldn't walk fast enough because her focus was mainly on her newly-bought bra. She admired the frills, the stitching, and I bet another family's fortune what she liked best was how it was so transparent. Beside her, Koko gave harsh, harsh glares to any men that stared sultrily after Sumire. And I wasn't surprised to see that the Young Lord distanced himself again. If I wasn't waking after him, I knew that he would've already been ten miles behind.

"We're invading tomorrow."

I instantly stopped walking.

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Leader said the Hyuuga's will be out from morning till nightfall. We've got plenty of time."

My blood stooped flowing. My muscles tensed as the words traveled to my brain and processed its meanings. Immediately, I whipped my head back and forth, side to side, at anyone and everyone to find the source of the two scheming voices. Behind a lantern post, two men were leaning in close together, murmuring and checking once in a while for eaves droppers. They made signs with their hands as they talked, and when they pointed in the direction of the Great Palace, I knew I had found my targets.

I stayed behind, letting the Young Lord and the others walk away. Swiftly, I glided my body behind another group and nonchalantly walked at their leisure pace. They were going slow enough for me to keep eavesdropping in the two men. "Sorry, let me hide behind you guys for a minute," I said to the group of people I was using for a shield.

"B-Be our guest."

I tuned my ears towards the scheming rebels once more. The shorter one of the two, a blonde, bright-eyed kid who _couldn't _have had been any older than Lady Aoi hooked his thumbs inside his pants pockets. "Alright, sounds good."

"Meet me at the you-know-where by dawn's breaking," said the other.

"Got it, Tsubasa."

The one whom I figured was named Tsubasa slapped his partner's back, smiling. He had a small, black star tattooed on his left cheek. His expression as he grinned was kind and soft, so it was hard to believe that such a criminal who's daring enough to try to attack the Great Palace could out on such a facade.

Maybe I was just being overly cautious. Maybe this was just a mere prank. Maybe I misunderstood something.

But then, all of a sudden, Tsubasa's eyes, locked dead-on on mine when he was scanning the crowd. We stared at each other for a while, and time seemed to slow down and nothing else was as prominent as those abysmal, dark-blue irises of his. They were almost too beautiful.

Then, realizing that what I just heard could turn me into a possible threat to whatever they were planning, he grabbed his friend by the collar and made an immediate run for it. "Rayne, let's go!" They ran, ran, ran away as I was just about to chase after them when I blurry figure darted past me.

"Natsume!" called Ruka so far in the distance.

_Natsume?_

_Natsume. That sounded so familiar. Natsume..._

_...Oh, shit._

I didn't have the leisure to process things. He ran too fast, and I knew that if I didn't act right now, I would've lost him. My feet were in marathon mode double-time, and as I began to run as well, my surroundings became fuzzy and obscured. I immediately couldn't make out a single thing in sight.

_Great. Somehow, someway, he managed to listen in too without me noticing. Now he's stopping at nothing until he catches them. He will stop at nothing._

_So, Mikan, make sure you stop at nothing until you catch _all three _of them._

"Mikan? Natsume! Where are you guys going?"

_I don't know. I just can't lose him, Koko. I can't._

My breathe hitched in my throat, and my feet began moving themselves faster and faster when they disappeared around a corner.

God, how I wished I was a better runner.

* * *

><p><em>Chapter VIII Sneak Peek:<em>

_He came down below my ear, his broody strands tickling the surface of my forehead and __nose. "Sh," he snapped. His voice came out as a low growl, an edge of supremacy could be heard. I felt a shudder creep back down along my spine when his breathe reached the tip of my oh-so sensitive ears. All the while, he still hadn't let go of me yet and I didn't think it was possible to be more conscious of his hand holding mine. _

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><p><em>SO, ready for chapter 8? I must tell you guys...it's making <em>**me** _squeal whenever I read it. And I wrote the damn thing! I'll try to upload faasstt~_

_And yes, Tsubasa is a bad guy in this. SO FAR. He'll come to Mikan's side eventually.(:_

_Keep the reviews coming! Almost there to review #75, and remember, whoever gets that, I will use their name for one of the important characters in my story! :D_

_And, by the way, I love you guys, I REALLY REALLY DO, but your questions are craap! x) I just cannot answer them, so sorry if I don't /: LOL no hard feelings *insert facebook heart here* Just please try to ask good questions that don't give the plot away, because I just love it when I feel like I'm actually talking to my beloved reviewers(:_

_Kay, so that's it from me today, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review!_

_Stay smexy my ladies and gents!_


	8. We Hide and Hope They Don't Seek

GUYSSSS! MY READERS! I missed you all so much it's not even funny! Okay, so I know I've been gone for like ten million years but I have an explanation. My Dad was moving our Mac to my room since I'm the only one who uses it, but on his way up the stairs, he tripped and the Mac legit fell down three flights of stairs (I have a big house). You can't even imagine how many hours I cried over the destruction of my computer T^T. So everything got like deleted. I had to start from scratch with this story and re-write all the 20+ chapters I had already saved on the Mac. I'm not even done writing the next chapter yet. So I'm so so so sorry about not uploading anything for a while!

Btws, I'm using my aunt's computer. Yes, my computer isn't even fixed OMG. I don't know when the next time I'l be uploading a new chapter, so bear it with me everyone./3

* * *

><p><em>The sun goes down<em>

_The stars come out_

_And all that counts_

_Is here and now_

_-Glad You Came _by The Wanted

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><p><em>Chapter VIII: We Hide And Hope They Don't Seek<em>

I remembered getting lost one time.

It was kind of funny, too, actually.

It occurred before I turned eight - before I had begun to master the skills that made me into the warrior my family could have been proud of today. Mother and Father had decided to take me along with them when they traveled to the homes and palaces of other royal families. They told me that it was time I had gotten to know important connections so that when the day arrived when I would need them, I would have had someone to rely on. That was the very first time I stepped out of of Sakura grounds.

I could still recall gawking at everything that caught my short-spanned attention as the carriage that carried Mother, Father, and I neared each of the palaces.

_"Honey, you're leaning too far out the window,"_ Mother would've often reprimanded me.

The first family that we visited were the Trinity's. I didn't like them very much because the way they stared at the six-year old me couldn't have had been a clearer giveaway that they were instead looking at the person I would've become ten years proceeding then.

_She's a monster._

_A killer._

_A pessimist._

_The day she turns sixteen would be the day the devil reigns._

Afterwards came the Jude's. They were a little bit better, I guessed.

Then the Pratye's.

And when my parents and I came to the home of the Odan's, that was when the day really started coming together.

The Odan's were peaceful people, owning a village that spoke of earnesty, modesty, and diminutiveness. Their palace was built near the town's center; it wasn't really a big palace to start with either. They could've been easily infiltrated, or ambushed, but the Odan clan only consisted of the aging Mistress and Lord so maybe the townspeople felt like they would've been going too far as to attack them. It proved just how much the Odan's influence reigned over the village.

Luckily for me, it was the perfect town to get myself lost in.

I couldn't remember how I'd gotten lost, but I could always picture Mother and Father's back turned to me, a black, metallic gate being opened by my frail hands that hadn't even held a knife yet; a couple of steps forward from the front yard of the Odan palace.

And there I was.

In a land I haven't yet familiarized myself with yet—in a land where my curiosity drove me.

As I roamed around the town unrestrained, I remembered looking up at people as if they were giants invading my home. I remembered knocking, pushing through, and sometimes clinging to their knees. I remembered crowds of men and women whose height exceeded way past my own, making me cry at first. Then I remembered galloping about the village. I remembered smiling, laughing, asking merchants for shiny things when I had no money to buy them at all.

I remembered lots of things, but the one memory that stood out the most was how people looked at me.

Or rather, how they _didn't._

Without Father and Mother—the two most well-known ninja clan leaders—by my side, holding my tiny hands in theirs, no one knew who this little girl was. Back then, it was such an amazing feeling when I wasn't stared at for who I would've become, or how many lives I would've taken. People passed me, glancing down for one time, but never doing a double-take. I hated double-takes. They made me feel like a circus animal; a freak of nature; a thousand year old scroll.

I wasn't a thousand year old scroll. I was six. I was a young girl who wanted to have fun, to make friends, and to not have people stare at me with looks that hotly burned _She's slowly turning into a murderer._

And for that one afternoon that I had become lost, I had gotten what I wanted.

Of course, when I returned back to the Odan Palace—two hours later and just in the nick of time as the moon appeared—Mother and Father were anxiously standing by the gated grounds, looking out at the village. They had lines of worry etching their mouths and foreheads, and Mother's eyes were blood-shot red and watering. Father had his lips sewed in a thin line—this was before I had mastered my skills, so my worth to Father was still on the second-priority-type ranges—as he held Mother by her quivering shoulders.

The minute I stepped out into the light to show that I had came back was the very minute that I swore to myself I would never get ever again, because it was also the very minute that I realized how heart-broken and forlorn Mother would be if I had suddenly disappeared from her life.

Her cries of relief that night were so unbearable that it almost made me want to kill myself for getting her that worried, and her arms wrapped me into a tight hug that even an anaconda's grip couldn't compare to.

That's why I decided I would never be lost again. If I did, it would worry Mother, and worrisome would slowly wrap its conniving little tail around reality and transform itself into disappointment.

I didn't want to disappoint.

As I chased after the Young Lord, who continued to weave and bob around the crowd, my desperation to not lose him grew and grew and fueled my legs. I didn't want to disappoint; because of that, I needed to catch up to him. To not lose him in this big mess of people.

"Ow! Watch it, you bitch!"

"Woah!"

"Augh! The hell?"

These comments whizzed by my ears but none of them were significant enough to be processed by my busy brain. Right behind the fury that I fought back into nothingness was this sort of void - a void that pierced my heart like no other. It came, again and again, whenever he breathed the same air as the beggars he passed. And then again when he looked back to me, met my eyes, and turned around as if he hadn't just seen me. We saw eachother; he knew it.

He was just too damn stubborn to stop.

"Sorry!" I exclaimed into the air. " Excuse me! Move! Please, move!" I tried weaving myself from whomever I passed by. With the way I ran after the Young Lord, I could knock someone's eye out. There was just too many. The both of us were unfortunately fighting our way through a crowd who moved the opposite direction. The street became narrower and narrower, until I swore it was too small everyone had to walk in a single filed line.

This wasn't good. I slowly began to lose sight of him amongst the many that attributed the same color of hair. People were getting taller, shoving their chests in my desperate face while I remained the same stupid height. I wished I was back home, where I was considered to be rather tall. Ever so desperately, I wished, I wished once more that it was just a figment of my imagination caused by my anger that made me think that Young Lord was getting less visible. I knew it wasn't, though. The shrill shriek of the his name was about to explode out of my awaiting tongue when all of a sudden, the dark shadow of his head rounded a corner and disappeared.

_Shit._ Shit. Shit. Shit!

I didn't think that my legs could've ran any faster than they already were. I pushed everyone out of my way now—women, men, elderly, and yes, even children. My hair was flailing in and out of my face, smacking every part of it that right then and there I wished I could've snatched a pair of scissors out of thin air to cut the too-long auburn-bright strands that I unfortunately hadn't cut in a while. My breath was catching up with me. This wasn't like jumping from tree brach to tree branch, where I had enough time in the world to steady myself and breathe only when needed to. This was running. Running after the Young Lord who I only found out then was an amazingly fast runner.

I turned so sharply at the corner where he vanished from that I saw blotches of white in my vision, and when I was able to see fine again, I hoped that I had damaged my eyes during the turn because the sight around the corner was not what I wanted to see.

It was an alleyway: dark, wet, full and trash and definitely the perfect place to get mugged.

Once more, I cursed inhumanely under my breath.

I sped down the alley. There was no one here, so the pounding of my feet against the cold pavement was all that infiltrated my ears. I was used to this sound by now. I shoved trash bins out of my way. I scared off stray cats. I focused everything I had in my eyes, searching only for the familiar grow of those scarlet red irises of his. By the time I came out of the alley at the other side, I had found nothing. Rather, no one. People once again filled my sight—I was on the other side of town, on a whole other street. It occured to me only now that the Young Lord and I left Ruka, Hotaru, and Sumire behind. They must've been so worried. For the Young Lord, I meant. Not me.

As I said before, the emotion could quickly be turned into disappointment if given the right situations and actions.

And as I also said before, I never, _ever_ wanted to disappoint.

Not a second to spare, I sped down the street with only one goal in mind. _Find him, find him, find him before trouble does. _The letters were imprinted in bold; their meaning even bolder as I ran miles up and down the street.

Whoever those two were, they were plotting against the Hyuuga's and as much as I hated the idea of that, the Young Lord was even more appalled by it. Probably. I hadn't even begun to sense him listening in on them as well. _Tsubasa. _The boy with the tattoo of a star that shone with the blackness of the dark. I was positive the Young Lord saw the tattoo too. If he did, then it might've been the only lead he's got. If would've taken him hours to search the whole village for that single, tiny little facemark—forever, even.

He didn't have forever. God, if he'd just stopped that time when he saw me chasing after him from behind, I would've helped him look for the rebels. God, he's too stubborn and idiotic and levelheaded to the point where I had to watch what I said unless I wanted a beat-down.

God.

It must've been at least half an hour before I had found him. It was dark by then, the silver light of the moon casting down upon his crimson eyes was the only thing that made me able to identify him. And what's even worse—the location was in a forest, far off from Baltrolan's grounds. I didn't remember how I had gotten there, for I ran around the town blind with anxiety and exhaust from running so much. And for that one second when I laid sight on the person whom I begun thinking was impossible to find, I didn't know my heart could've felt so much relief.

He was hiding behind the body of a tree, looking over his shoulder to the other side—the two rebels must've been close. I quietly crept up to him, careful not to make the tall grass beneath my feet sing. I kept a hand on the hilt of the Dragon Sword to stop it hitting against my hip as I held all of my hair with the other. With all the stealthiness in me, I flowed and ebbed from the blotches of moonlight that snuck in the dark forest through the gaps the treetops made. When I came to his side, I stuck my body so close to his our shadows blended.

He looked down at me, our eyes close and unwavering. He didn't look surprised at all, which showed how much he knew that I would've caught up to him sooner or later. He shook his head slightly, signaling that if I open my mouth, he'd make the sure the death of me would come soon. I nodded my head in understanding, as I didn't really care - my master was beside me and I was content enough.

He nudged the tip of his chin to his left. I followed his gesture and let my head peak over the side of the brown bark just a little. A couple of feet over, covered by bushes and trees that made it hard to see around them was where the two stood—the boy with the tattoo and his friend. They were sitting down. The branch of a nearby plant covered them but the moonlight made up for it.

"So we're just supposed to stay here until daybreak?" I heard one say—the other one, the younger one. They were whispering. If the young Lord intended to get information, this way was too weak. I turned to look up at him again. When he met my stare I jabbed my thumb heavenwards and pointed to the tree branch that hovered above our heads. I tried to make my intention clear: I could use the branches to try and get closer to them. But he shook his head, and the way he stared at me, so close and full of authority, told me he didn't want to risk it.

He didn't trust me.

"Yes. Now shut up, they could still be in pursuit of us."

A wistful sigh erupted. "But Tsubasa, I'm starving! And we're miles away from Baltrolan. I don't think they're still after us; they must have given up."

"I'm not taking any chances."

"Tsuba—"

"No, Rayne. No."

"Ah, geez, I don't see the problem though!" I flushed my body even further with the Young Lord's when the younger boy—Rayne—bolted to his feet, but I didn't expect the Young Lord to throw an arm around my shoulders to better mold us together. Chest to chest. Heart to heart. _We're hiding. Just hiding. _His heart thumped against my ears, creating a beautiful melody that spoke of his person. It was steady and just_—I must do the same, I mustn't let my heartbeat get the better of me because our closeness would let him hear it. _I turned my head away in hopes to hide the annoying blush that dotted my cheeks. Damn, this wasn't the time to feel like a girl. Rayne continued, "Maybe those two were just selling stuff or something."

Tsubasa also rose to his feet, but in a calmer manner. The dim light cascaded on the bumps and rises that graphed his face. "Yeah, sure, cause normal merchants chase us when we don't want to buy anything."

"'Kay, fine, I get it," Rayne answered. "Don't get all bitchy, man."

"Besides, they were dressed too good to be merchants. In fact, they were dressed too good to be even _living _in a village." Tsubasa exhaled under his breathe: a thoughful sigh.

"Think they were royalty?"

"...No doubt about it."

"But, Tsubasa, remember the girl?" I froze. The Young Lord must've felt my shoulders stiffen at the word. _Girl. _I wanted to punch the living shit out of them. "I've seen her before."

"I know. I have too." _Mikan Lorel De'Sho Sakura. Heiress to the Sakura clan. Top-trained assasin. Can sure as hell kick your butts before you even know what had hit you. Pleasure to meet you. _"But damn, did you see that monster she had? WHoever she is, she's not normal. No sixteen year old girl would be carrying a sword that insanely huge." My hand traveled to the Dragon Sword's hilt on instinct and I felt my skin glide on the cool surface of it. It wasn't like it was huge as the boy, Tsubasa, had said; it was just long and narrow. "You know, unless she's sexually active as a super masochist or somethin'."

I felt myself gasp in the back of my throat. I had time to be offended—hell, I had time to feel the anguish towards Tsubasa and Rayne grow—but it all quickly disappeared the next second when a big, cold hand came upon mine and wrapped its fingers completey over it. The dreadfully freeing sensation coated the skin that layered my hand, pressing it against the hilt even more. It pressed, and pressed, and pressed until I was sure the blood had stopped flowing inside my veins. And at that moment, the voices of the two boys' had disappeared, the crickets ceased their song, and only the wind continued to stir alive. _Dead._

Neither of us had to speak. I didn't even had to look up to him to get the message. Although I didn't know the reason, he wanted me to let go of the Dragon Sword—the way he gripped harder and harder by each passing second told me he wanted me to let go of it fast.

There was a problem. "You have to get your hand off first, Young Lord," I whispered as lowly as I could.

He came down below my ear, his broody strands tickling the surface of my forehead and nose. "Sh," he snapped. His voice came out as a low growl, an edge of supremacy could be heard. I felt s shudder creep back down along my spine when the breathe reached the tip of my oh-so sensitive ears. All the while, he still hadn't let go of me yet and I didn't think it was possible to be more concious if his hand holding mine. He held my stare, making my knees buckle when the moonlight made his eyes much more pronounced, and murmured, "Shut up." I nodded my head a this, thinking that the sooner I obeyed the sooner the distance between us would be recreated. Something hot and burning was flowing through my body and into my heart. I didn't know what it was, and it hurt like a bitch—I didn't like it.

"Y-Yes," I answered before realizing what I had done.

"I said _shut up_."

Once more, I bobbed my head up and down, pursing my lips. The word just slipped out accidentally; I never, _ever _did that, especially when our safety was at stake. I wished he would've just had taken his hand off. I could've concentrated better. Gradually, cautiously, he withdrew his hand from mine and lay it limp beside him, though he still kept the arm around my shoulders, blending every curve I had into his. His heart still beat at such a steady pace. _Th-thump. Th-thump. Th-ump. _It almost made me believe he wasn't alive. And because of the way mine sang to a faster, more flustered rhythm, it made me incredibly jealous._ Th-th-th-th-th-th-th-th-th-..._

"Includes this, stupid," he added, poking a finger at me that pointed to my chest. Him making it obvious only caused it to become more rapid—untamed. But I got it.

Eventually.

"Maybe it's okay now," Rayne said just in time for me and the Young Lord to tune back in. We missed the most of the two minutes of conversation they had, but hopefully it wasn't anything important, and that they only conversed my interest in _masochism. _Geez, only being with the Young Lord made me wish for that.

He knocked the back of his head onto the tree as he leaned a little on his face. He was only using his ears. I knew from experience that spying had to be balanced, so I, on the other hand, used my eyes. I pressed my soft cheek on the tip of his elbow to lean myself further in. Out of the silent darkness came Rayne and Tsubasa again, now seated on their sneaky butts this time and thankfully, they were in perfect, clear view. "No. We're not clear yet. For God's sake, Rayne, hold still for a minute! You're gonna give our position away, godammit."

"To who? The trees? Oh, my God, Tsubasa, watch out! There's one_ behind_ you!" Tsubasa lifted a fist and hit Rayne square in the temple, causing Rayne to instantly fall back. "Okay - ..._OW?" _he screeched, which earned him another solid punch. "Fuck, stop! If you don't realize how strong you punch, you'll knock me out cold, dumbass!"

"I wish, _dumbass,_" Tsubasa snarled. "I'll be safer without you."_  
><em>

"I told you, they've probably already given up."

"And you're dead, hands-down, if you think that for even one second."

"So, what, we're just gonna wait them out?"

"Exactly."

They grew silent for a while afterwards. When the breadth of afive minutes had lingered by, I gazed up to look at the Young Lord, hopefully to send him the message that whatever he was waiting for, I didn't think that it would've came soon. He was turned away though, looking at anything but my eyes that said the truth. _God, he's so damn stubborn._ His grip on my shoulder still hung onto its original strength, but the more the seconds pass, the looser and looser it became.

"Hey." That one syllable had us rev our alert senses back up again. "How's Misaki?" Then, it deflated. _They aren't talking about any invasion plans or or layouts._

An almost choking sound erupted form Tsubasa. "_WHAT?_ When the _hell_ did _she_ come in this?"

The dim light of Rayne flashing a toothy grin at Tsubasa infiltrated my sight. "Come on, man, is it so bad to ask how my own sister is doing?"

"I swear I'll kill you." The embarrassment in his voice could not have had been any more obvious, and his cheeks were lucious pink in contrast of the night, even where I was standing. The Young Lord drummed his fingers on the back of my shoulder. He was getting impatient with their small talk, and I couldn't deny that I was too. "And she's your sister," Tsubasa went on. "You should know."

"I_ should, _but a certain bastard has been taking the only family I have left from me lately. One time, I didn't even get to talk to her for _two _days! Sad, isn;t it?"

"Shut up. I don't spend _that _much time with her."

"You don't realize it because whenever you do, you have fun and you lose track of time. She's a beauty, huh?"

I could tell Tsubasa was going to reply—a smartass comment or not—but he was suddenly interrupted but an unknown voice.

Or rather, he was interrupted by me.

The Young Lord's arm was gradually slipping of my shoulders, but because he did it ever so slowly and cautiously, he let his arm caress the rest of my back on its way down. It glided and skimmed past my shoulder blades, down my spine, and eventually he arrived near my waist. His fingertips got caught on the rear helm of my pants which, unforetunately, was surrounded by bare skin due to my shirt riding up. His blazing, hot touch met my lower back, and the moment that it did, the most surprised, force-whispered squeal flew out of my lips.

My right foot immediately wobbled. It lost its steady footing as my body followed the way towards the ground. _This is it, _I thought as my head descended towards the dark grass at a notably fast speed. _Tsubasa and Rayne are going to find out that we're here and we've been spying on them. They're going to take us in and interrogate us. They're going to interrogate the Young Lord. _That thought alone was enough to make the insides of my stomach do double twists upside-down. Because to any assasin, to any ninja or clan heir, interrogation meant many things—unpleasant things.

But before my body made contact with the dirt beneath my feet with just two inches to spare, a hand coiled itself on the back of my neck and pulled me back into the air, head first. I knew the touch too well to realize it was the Young Lord. Again.

He swiftly brought my entire body higher than it needed to be, cradling my legs in one arm and my upper body with the other. My face was abruptly shoved into a soft mess of something so silky, but unruly. _His hair. _On mere instinct, my arms wrapped themselves around his neck and they held on so tight I thought I could break it. He wasn't complaining, though, so I figured it was fine if I held on tighter.

When our surroundings stilled themselves again, many uncertainties clouded my mind.

_How many seconds was that? One..._maybe_ three? We're still hiding behind the tree, right? Did Rayne and Tsubasa hear? _

_What the _fuck _just happened?_

"Okay, I'm starting to believe you when you say that they still might be in pursuit of us," started Rayne.

My face was in too deep the Young Lord's perfectly-smelling hair that I didn't have the chance the look up to see whether I would've met Raynes eyes or not, but when I heard him, I didn't even flinch at the possibility that they could've found us if we didn't move. The only thing that I was aware of was that the Young Lord _touching _me. He's touched me before—he held my waist during that time when the Palace was under attack, he carried me (princess hold, mind you) to the infirmary afterwards, and just five minutes ago he was holding my hand. Even if those actions of his conveyed hostility and distrust, it was no lie that my master had touched me.

But why now, when I had already experienced his skin upon mine, why did it make me feel so aware now of his hands holding the places that I hadn't let even Toshiro hold before? He gripped both of the joints of my legs where my thigh and calf met to keep me suspended in the air, and his other arm was freely exploring my back and rounding itself just below where my breasts were. He was extremely close to private territory, and I couldn't do anything about it because if I made so much of a tiny "_Don't touch me there!", _Rayne and Tsubasa would've heard .

Hah.

Funny thing was, my arms _themselves _weren't so innocent. They overlapped each other as they clasped on the Young Lord's neck, my hands gripping the opposite arms' elbows._ This is nothing_, I reminded myself. _He did this to prevent my from falling. He did this so I wouldn't give our position away. _

_He did this for our safety._

_He's carrying me because I just can't seem to carry myself._

_...But,_ God, _does his hair smell so insanely good or what, Mikan?_

My ears picked up the faintest sound of grass rustling the next second, and the Young Lord probably did too since I felt his limbs stiffen against my body. "Sh, Rayne." It was Tsubasa. "Heard that?"

"It sounded like a squirrel, man."

"It sounded like a _girl._"

"Really? Damn, you're good. It was too soft for me to hear, so I can't really tell."

"No. I'm sure. She's somewhere near here." The more the plants rustled, the more I realized that they got up on their feet and were now beginning to do a search-through of their surroundings. I idly rose my head from the Young Lord's hair and my eyes drew my sight to them. They were starting to look—slowly, though.

"Great, you exposed us," the Young Lord whispered. "You're some professional." At this point, my heart was beating too fast for my brain to process an answer. I knew that if we had stayed here longer, we're going to get caught.

I nudged him with a flick of my hand to his shoulder. "We have to have to go," I said. "Now."

"I know," he replied, much to my bewilderment. He was finally starting to cooperate for once.

When Rayne and Tsubasa had their backs turned, the Young Lord spread his arms from my body, allowing me to touch my feet back on the ground and make a full-on sprint for it.

"Hey! Tsubasa, Tsubasa! They're getting away!" hollered Rayne. His voice was near, which meant that he was only a couple of feet behind us.

"Shit!" Tsubasa, though, was farther away. "Well, catch them, idiot!"

I heard Rayne's shouts of protest just right behind behind us, causing my feet to push themselves way past their limit. I ran while I held onto the Young Lord's wrist as if it was my dear life—it didn't seem like it was necessary, though, because his pace exactly matched mine and at times, it was even faster and _he _was the one who dragged me behind him. Also, I hadn't realized it until now, but we were deep inside the forest. The faster I pounded my feet on the rock-hard ground, the more the trees seemed to fill my surroundings. It took every ounce of tenacity I had in me to hold myself back from taking the Dragon Sword out and slashing down everything that stood in my way.

"Don't even think about," the Young Lord said, as if he was reading my thoughts. His face was indifferent, and his breathe was steady even when he knew that the two guys who were chasing us were only really pursuing our deaths. The darkness of the forest didn't overwhelm him; neither did exhaustion from running so fast. He was just..._used _to it, maybe.

"I—I wa—wasn't!" I replied in between breathes. The problem with me was that I was an assassin. I was a child of the dark, the mystery in mystery. I worked in shadows and had silence accompany me throughout all my missions in the past. I wielded weapons. Shot arrows. Jumped branches.

But _running? _Not my forté.

By now, the Young Lord's pace and mine steadied itself at a nice, sustainable speed. I had already let go of his wrist since I figured both he and I would've ran faster without anything holding us back. _"_Stop, godammit!" wheezed Rayne, so faintly in the distance. My ears were picking up less and less of the sounds of his actions.

_"_Stop!"

It was obvious that there was no way we'd stop.

"I hav—I have money!" he shouted just as I heard the simple unsheathing of a sword. _That dirty, lying bastard._

And by the time that Tsubasa had also joined Rayne in the feeble attempts of telling us to stop, the Young Lord and I were already out of range. We passed the last pair of trees that brought us out into civilization again, where there was about a five-mile, clear path back to Baltrolan. I could see the town's lights radiating off in the distance.

"Rayne, move your ass! Let's go, go!"

We didn't take one second to hesitate. Right at this moment, we both decided that it would've been better getting away for now. So, under the moon's guidance and with the dull, dull stars above us, we ran back home.

* * *

><p>My legs felt like jelly and lead all combined into one. My heart beat like an indian tom-tom, rapid—as if it were signaling danger coming upon the horizon. Never had I felt such exhaustion in my entire life, and <em>that consisted <em>battles that ran for six days straight, drills that Toshiro specifically made to work me down to my bones, and swinging spears and iron num-chucks that stood three times bigger than I did. God, only now did I finally understand to what extent I hated—_despised _running.

I dropped to my knees the instant were were on Palace Grounds again, literally feeling like I had just dropped dead. The cool pavement of the gound met my face, urging and pulling me into it even more. I turned on my cheek to look up to the figure who stood high beside me.

He wasn't even panting. "Young Lord." My lips tasted dirt when I opened them to speak. " Are you not tired?"

"Tired and pathetic are two different things. Of course I'm tired, dumbass." Because of the lightheaded I was, it took me a while to realize that he had just called me pathetic. I just didn't have the needed energy to retort to that one.

My mind was playing games with me. Everything seemed like they belonged in a kaleidoscope, and the my eyes gace the moon a wicked face with a wicked smile that told of wicked things. In and out, in and out went my conciousness, sometimes drifting off into a hazy wonderland, and then others paying close attention to reality. Everything about me just felt so weak and immovable, as if all the joints in my body shifted.

Why were we running again? Actually, _what _were we running from?

"Don't black out," came the Young Lord's voice. I moved my unfocused stare to him. Huh? When did he go blonde? "We need to talk."

His figure slowly retreated away, accompanied by slow, heavy footsteps that dragged on the terrain. From the angle that I was seeing him, he looked younger and more vulnerable with his back slouched like the way it was. His shoulders were down. Then up, and back down. It was no longer the broud shoulders that he had always shown me. He was tired. And thirsty.

Maybe he was human after all.

He circled to me once more, now wearing a an agitated expression. "Get up."

I managed to get at least two words out of my mouth when it was so busy desperately succking in air. "Where to?" Koko always went out on daily runs at around five in the morning. I hadn't questioned him for the matter, but I had a good hunch that he did it so he wouldn't feel like the way I felt right now. I thought of going along with him sometime.

"My room. We need to talk."

Without a question, I followed the unsteady, dark blur that was the Young Lord up the Palace steps, through the corridors—as quiet as we could as to not disturb anyone sleeping—through the kitchen, and finally to his room. All the while, I noticed that my heart startged to get its regular rhythm back as more time had lapsed. My legs still felt like they could crumble under me any second, but it wasn't as worse as before. I seriously began to second-guess my stamina and its worth. Maybe it wasn't as superior as I took it to be.

I mean, I fucking _collapsed _on the floor in front of the Young Lord. He was right: I was being patethic, doing things I never thought I would ever do in my whole entire life. And even though my dizzy mind was still recovering from so much running I had enough sense in me to act like everything was fine and nothing was devote myself entirely to my master by not caring about anything else, not even myself. That was my job. My duty.

The Young Lord ushered me in through the door, not glancing at me or speaking any further instructions. His jaw was tight, and his stare was unwavering as if he was looking at something that only he had the power to see. We both took ourselves outside to his porch, beside his beloved Cherry Blossom Tree. It seemed like forever ever since I had last laid eyes on it. He leisurely propped his leg and back on the body of the tree with one leg holding him up, and I stood five feet away with my knees locked and body rigidly straight. I held my hands together in front of me.

He lowered his stare. "So? What do you think?"

Almost immediately, I knew he was referring to Rayne and Tsubasa. Through all the smoggy haze that clouded my head, I recalled scenes from back in the forest. I had pretty good memory, both short-term and long-term, but i couldn't remember anything they said that was important at all. Maybe some - Misaki, who would come pick them up at the break of dawn - but I highly doubted it. "It was a waste of time," I conjured in parallel to what I knew.

"Because you didn't get there on time."

"On time?" I was compelled to think that, for once, he expected the better of me because when he spoke the words _on time,_ it was the very same words that Father had said when he gave me my first mission. It was also the first that Father finally saw me as an assassin, a part of the clan. But if I began to think that the Young lord held hopes for me, it would've been a long way down for my pride and ego if I had assumed falsely. "What do you mean? Had they said anything before I arrived?"

"They're thinking of carrying out their plan."

Plan? As in the Palace invasion? "Please explain."

He drummed his fingers against his elbows. Then, heaving a deep sigh, he propped himself on his two feet and walked towards me. "I need you to do something."

My heart skipped a beat. "...What is it?" Inside my guts, a terrible, ominous forboding rumbled storm after storm. I prepared myself for all kinds of requests I thought he would throw at me. I even reached the inner most corners of my mind and expected the Young Lord to tell me to buy a purple bunny-rabbit with a diamond core in just less than five minutes. With him, nothing ever went the way you assumed it would. It took a detour, rounded around bullshit, shove everything you thought you knew up your ass, and finally came to a halt farthest from where you imagine you'd end up.

"Fight me. Right now," he said.

_Knew it. I fucking knew it._

What he said didn't surprise me. Through all the scenarios he put me through and through all the times that he scared me so much I literally thought my blood went cold, it was hard to get surprised at anything he did. Maybe it was the two weeks of being with him that allowed me to expand my limitations to keep up with my master. "I cannot," I said, shaking my head. "I will not."

He stepped closer, as close as he was to me back in the forest. "It isn't a request. I'm _ordering _you to fight me." His eyes shone dark, even when the luminous light of the observing moon casted on them.

"I am sorry."

"Come on. Get your sword out."

I stared at him, wondering if I heard him say what I thought he said. "Out of all the times that I waited for you to give me permission to use the only effective weapon I have, you tell me _now_ I can use it?" I couldn't help but raise my voice. It was just so unbelievable. He was crazy, I swear. Loopy in the head.

"And I can't?"

"It's not that you can't. It's that I won't."

He clicked his tongue. Taking two small steps, his feet slipped past mine as his arm curled around the lower part of my waist and pulled me closer to him - his body. Closer, closer, closer until I swore I could feel everything that was part of him.

_Everything. _

I gasped. "What the _hell _are you doing—!...Young Lord?" I was amazing. I was truly a genuis of the Sakura clan. Even under these absurb circumstances, i found the very small part of me that still remembered I was his protector. His servant. His slave. Consequently, my hands were already flattened out on his broad chest. I didn't recall placing them there. My arms pushed and pushed to try to pry myself away from his, but his tightening grip on my waist was just too strong.

Woah. Woah, Mikan Sakura's heart. Calm down...calm down. Please.

"You won't lift even one finger if I don't stop?" His other hand came up and cupped my chin, much to my objection. His thumb ran itsle fover my lips, slowly caressing the skin that only now did I feel was a bit chapped. One of his infamous smirks broke out out on the place where his mouth was supposed to be just as I felt myself quiver against his touch.

Lady Kish, Toshiro's wife, had a talk with me that situations like this. SHe told me of a story how she was in the same predicament I was in right now - only with a more dangerous, more hurtful man - and that it was the first time she began to think of death. The only way she got herself out was to fight through it all. She never succumbed to the stranger, even when he held a knife against her neck, and she acted as dignified as Mother. There were no other ways I thought of that I can take to face this head-on, so I took Lady Kish's advice. "It depends where you plan to take it." I tried to make myself sound secure, and just, and fearless. God only knew to what extent I had lied to.

"Depends where you want me to go."

I coolly sighed, despite that my knees shook like crazy. "Is this a joke, Young Lord? It's not funny."

"There are only two ways to make a girl fight back. Either ruin her, or break her, and since you're not even mine to break, guess this is the only way."

I quirked an eyebrow. Something rustled nearby, almost faint but not faint enough for my sensitive ears to miss. "You _still _want me to fight you?" His eyes darted to the same spot where I heard the source of the noise, but then they quickly averted back to me, shining.

"Take a hint, dumbass."

I waited for a gust of wind to come rolling by, but none came. None came for the last five minutes. Slowly, my anxiousness began to dot away into the inner depths of my heart and was replaced by something more aroused and alert. "Alright, fine." His arms uncurled from my body as he took a few steps back just as I did too. I hiked my skirt up to reach inside my thigh holsters for a dagger. As soon as I caressed the familiar coat of its handle, I plucked it out and spun it around my nimble fingers. I looked at the Young Lord, his expression as unreadable as always.

I smiled to myself, thanking whoever it was up there for making him able to catch on fast, and threw the dagger like how Sumire threw glares. _Quick, but effective._

The Young Lord hit the floor just in time that I expected him to. The dagger whizzed over his head with nothing but a few centimeters to spare and traveled until it plunged into a bush across the platform. We both waited—I, frozen with my arm still in throwing form, and the Young Lord, quietly getting back up on his feet. I thought for a measly second: if we hadn't met under forced circumstances, gotten to know each other under unpleasant terms, and stuck with each other because of tge Blood Oath, we could've been a pretty good team.

And then another rustle came, this one we saw coming. I instantly moved in between the Young Lord and the bush, my back in close quarters with his chest. I took out another dagger, this one sharper, thinner; easier to kill with. The rustle soon then turned into a loud crackle of leaves as a dark shadow erupted from plants.

It landed nearer to us than I thought it would have had the guts to, but nonetheless, I changed switched my gears from Mikan Sakura the girl to Mikan Sakura the assassin. Protector, and trophy of her clan.

I grasped the dagger tighter. "Who are you?" I exclaimed.

The shadow was illuminated by the moon's light, giving me enough to see to conclude that it was a man. He wore a hood over his face, though, so I couldn't make out anything else than the structure of his body. Was this part of the invasion rayne and Tsubasa talked about? No. Couldn't be. The morning sun hadn't even reach the horizon yet.

"Who are you?" I asked again after not getting a reply back.

He moved closer. I had no option but to move as many paces back—I needed to distance this man from the Young Lord. Something about him was off, and it didn't put me at ease when the Young Lord was easily reachable.

"It's..." When he spoke, his voice was dark, low, and sounded like someone who had too many of those death sticks whose grey clouds Mother told me to stay away from. "It's good to see you again, my dearest Mikan."

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><p><em>Next Chapter Preview:<em>

_"But I promise you it will all make sense! About Natsume. About your parents. About who you really are, and who I really am. Starting from now, you will see much more of me. Don't worry, babe, we _will _be united once more. Hell, I can only pray that the day comes sooner."_

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><p>Ooooh, cliffhanger!:o I'm so mean for putting that when I don't even know when I'll upload the next chapter xD But I promise I'll try my best for you guys!<p>

The chapter preview is only a preview, even for me. I'm not done writing chapter nine guys, sorry /: I'm trying my best here to remember what I wrote before my computer broke, so go easy on me, please(:

Stay smexy!


	9. I'm Back

_Please don't yell at me. And please don't get mad. I've been so busy and I honestly thought about dropping this story. But now, a year later, I realized that I just couldn't do that. I still don't know how consistent I will be with updating, but I do know but I'm going to finish this even if it kills me._

_Sorry that after a year of not updating, it's not that long of a chapter. I'm cutting them down to half the words they used to be, to convince myself that it's not that hard to update another chapter. And I've also lost some of my edge, so it's a **guarantee **that this chapter isn't as detailed and well-written as the other ones. So sorry._

_Anyways, I've missed you all and you don't know how much it means to me that you still check back to this story. I sincerely apologize._

_I present to you chapter nine of Adoration Kills._

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><p><em>But you treat me like a stranger<em>

_And that feels so rough_

_-Somebody That I Used to Know _by Gotye

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><p><em>Chapter IX: I'm Back<em>

It didn't take a lot of convincing to make myself attack him a split second later. With my elbow snug tight underneath his chin and a growl-like cry bolting out of my mouth, I propelled us forward until he slammed back against the body of the cherry blossom tree. I didn't hear the bark breaking at contact. My ears were repleted with one word, and one word only. _Dear. Dear. Dear Mikan. _How dare he mock me. Using my free hand, I whipped out my dagger and touched the silver tip to his neck. The only reason why I hadn't killed him right then and there was because it'd be too easy.

Blushing petals of the tree floated near my eyes. Momentarily, they distracted me, but then they left in desolate currents that continued to fall down the hillside. It was a while before the tree stopped shaking and losing its leaves, but when it did, I stopped shaking as well. I forced myself to breathe. _Calm down. Don't get angry. Stay focused._

It was now, despite my hastiness, that I realized he had been quiet—not a sound wheezed out of him as I _crushed _his throat and _threatened _him with a weapon he knew I wasn't afraid to wield. I inched closer, seeing a small, discreet smile where his lips were supposed to be.

"Who—" I began.

His hood slipped off, sliding from over his forehead, back to his ears, and down his neck until it rested on his shoulders. His face was revealed. His young, young face. Mid-twenties, possibly. I took a moment to study all that I could, in case there was something that triggered a feeling of familiarity within me. There was none. But there was everything. His nose was the prominent feature, before his thin lips and wide-set forehead. The mud-brown hue his eyes envisaged were so threatingly dark it put off the shine of his hair whose color matched it. Messy strands sprawled across the top of his bushed brows, and I caught a glimpse of a loose ponytail at the back. He was tall. He was cold. And he was looking straight at me.

Waves of lightning thundered through my bones when I met his eyes. They melted them, and if it wasn't the Young Lord shifting to us, I would've became lost in a sea of waters I never sailed but somehow knew its tides.

I tensed again when I felt the heir beside me. "Stay back," I hissed to him. The intruder's gaze left mine to direct to wherever the Young Lord was. I didn't let him get too far. "Don't look at him. I'm your opponent." I pressed my weapon closer and deeper into his skin. A string of blood oozed from the little cut."Who are you? What is your business here?" I continued.

There was only one reason why one would break into the Young Lord's quarters late at night, but ocassionally it differed. Whatever his answer was, though, his fate was already sealed. I'd still have to kill him in the end.

Our stares locked once more, and my stomach flipped.

Toshiro instinctively knocked in the back of my head. I recalled something he said months prior, something about people who were trained to murder with their eyes. _"Best be careful around them," _he said. _"They distract you, and in the moment of instability, your life will be ripped from you before you can try to snatch it back. You'll know who they are when you meet them, Jitter Bug. You'll know, and you'll be careful."_

He didn't explain how they had been trained to do what they did, but he never joked around when it came to what could kill me out on the job. It was why I trusted his advice and acted quickly based on it. I stood taller: this man was one of whom Toshiro was cautioning me against, and as annoyed as I was not knowing how I was rattled from just one look, I chose to go the alternate—inferior—route. I averted away first, to anything but his god-forsaken eyes and their power.

The first thing that caught my attention was his blood sneaking down his neck. Ripe, red, and glowing with the life I governed at the moment. It reminded me that I had the upper hand; not him. Not him and whatever he was trying to do with my mind. I had the control and I needed to keep it mine to protect the Young Lord from this intruder.

That was right. The Young Lord was in the presence of an unknown threat. Keep on your toes, Mikan. Eyes open and ready.

"I assume you know I have full authority on deciding whether you get to live or not." To my dismay, I sensed the Young Lord scoot another centimeter closer to us. God be so kind as to make him leave the porch. The palace, if it wasn't too much to ask for. He was smart, so he should've read the situation and fled away to safety—to Koko, a nearby guard. Anyone except me, for I was the thin wall that separated him and the intruder who could take his life if I made a mistake. I hardened my voice. "You're in the lateral so far."

"So strong. Fierce," the man whispered.

I ignored the tremor the dotted goosebumps on my arm when he spoke. "Answer me," I said, slicing the dagger even further.

A ghost of a smile clothed his lips. "Patience was never your forte, though, Jitter Bug." He chuckled.

My free hand fisted the front of his cloak. I slammed him on the tree again. "Who are you?" I said menacingly. "How do you know that name?" _How do you know me?_

"—A friend," he said after catching his breathe. "I come as a friend."

"Bullshit!"

"We've grown apart, I admit, but we can make up for the lost time."

He was only making it much more harder for me to not end his life. As he said, patience was not my best point. I could only take so much of his mind games before my self-control ran dry. Being flooded with questions didn't help, either. The only way he could've known that kind of information about me was through secret intelligence. Undercover work. It couldn't have been through a spy because I would've known the first minute if someone was on my trail. _It was one of my fortes. _But however he had done it, he managed to escape from my attention. He was good.

"Good evening, Natsume. You look well."

My mind stopped racing, the same time my heart did.

I breathed.

I felt my death dawning when I slowly turned to look to my side and see the Young Lord mere inches from us.

Then, with a hell of a kick-start, Mikan the Protector came out in brilliant colors. "Young Lord!" I shouted, eyes now firmly locked on his body while my hands firmly locked on the man's to make sure he stayed put. "What the hell are you doing? Stay _back!_" I didn't even hear him move this close to us, this close to the man where he was in easy reach for him if he decided to grab the Young Lord by the neck or whip out a knife and stab him. The images made me sick to the core. I would've immediately taken the Young Lord far away if it didn't mean letting the man go. He'd pursue us if I did. But more than anything, I needed to get the idiot of an heir to safety.

He wasn't moving. I screamed and cursed at him to go away, but he stayed as still as a statue. He even resembled one too, with face pale white and eyes blank as if the soul inside was dead. "Young Lord!" Nothing.

I turned the man and I around, making myself a human barrier between the two. My eyes floated to the intruder's on a risk, but upon reaching them, I realized they were noticing everything but me—everything, as in what was behind my back. And for some reason, I knew that the Young Lord was staring straight back at him.

"Eyes on me, bastard, or I rip them out." If only I was taller, so that my head came in the middle of them as well.

A voice responded but it didn't come from the person in front of me. It was a second later that I comprehended who had spoken; the roughness and silk-like sound was already embedded deep in my ears. A tattoo. An imprint. A part of who I was.

"Shotai."

But the Young Lord seemed distant, as if he wasn't a part of himself. He didn't sound as sure as he usually was, and I picked it up only because he sounded thick with emotion he'd never spoke with before.

"You remember me," the man said.

Shock traveled to my expression, soon blanketed by the confusion of the fact that they actually knew each other. "What?"

"I can't believe you remember me."

"Shotai— . . you . . . you're not supposed—" He was stuttering. The heir to the Three Great Lands was stuttering.

"—To be here? Oh, trust me when I say that there's a lot of things I'm not supposed to be, but being here, in front of you, and _you—" _he nodded to me. I headbutted his chin to make him rethink actions. "—_Mm! _Okay, _ouch."_

"You should stop talking." I nudged the Young Lord with a hard elbow. "And _you_ should hurry the fuck up and get away! Don't listen to him, Young Lord. He's tricking you. Whatever he's saying isn't true."

"My presence here is crucial."

"I said shut up!"

Almost immediately was I prompted to eat my own words. The Young Lord grabbed my shoulder from behind and shoved me aside with so much force I let go of my grip on the intruder, Shotai. _No! _I saw white as he sent me sliding to the floor, creating too many feet of distance to the space that separated us. My eyes strained to keep watch of the now unrestrained man and the imperiled Young Lord, who was the cause of this turn-out in the first place. _What is he doing!_

Air escaped me all at once when my back slammed into the wall. It made a heavy crash that scared the birds in the treetops nearby. They left in a flurry of black and white, guided by the light of the moon. I choked and tried breathe it back in as I rolled to my knees, ready to get up as soon as I caught my breathe.

"N-No!" I exclaimed, straining to see the man still held against the tree with the Young Lord taking my place as the restraint on him. He, too, had a blade out, but he pointed it to Shotai's heart. The way he clutched the hilt of it—he was going to do it. He was going to kill the man.

"Shotai, for so long now," the Young Lord snapped, cutting through his cloak and quickly drawing blood. "For so _damn _long I've wanted to see you. I have so many questions but when I think about it long and hard, I really don't want you to answer them. In the end, I just want to fucking _end _you." He was full of ferocity and he was directing all of it into his blade. I'd never seen this side of him. He spoke like his words hurt, like they were dipped in poison, and his eyes were darker and redder and it was then that I really believed he was of demon descent.

For a second, I was scared.

"Stop," I said languidly, "Put the knife down." I couldn't let him kill Shotai, not when the Young Lord was currently in this state of mind. As his Protector, I knew he wasn't himself. I knew he'd needed me to stop him from doing what he'd regret later on.

Shotai's arm suddenly shot up and slapped the blade away from the offender. It slid towards me, but by the time it got there, I was already alert on my feet. Catching the Young Lord by surprise, Shotai pushed and maneuvered himself out of his hold. Instinct drove me to dive for the Young Lord's falling body. Oxygen left me again as my chest collided with the wooden floor, but the pain was canceled out by the relief of having the heir's body weight in my extended arms.

"_Shotai!" _He made a move to get up as I caged him down, clutching around his waist and holding on with everything I had.

"No!" I shouted to him. "You can't, Young Lord! Let me handle this. Please, go to safety." Everything was happening so fast. I didn't even know what I was supposed to do next.

He seemed to be shot numb, slowly retreating to the floor like how I had wanted him to, when Shotai began to speak. Still, my grasp on his clothing tightened."Oh, you two look so loving like that." He sounded far away. I dragged my vision from off the Young Lord's back and searched around the porch to where he possibly was, eventually coming to an ominous shadow perched on the ledge. The moon created depths in his cheeks, and the wind brushed the darkened part of his face, the side that the light wasn't able to reach. He had crossed his arms upon his chest. "Pity you don't look like two lovers embracing. Oh my, what scary expressions you've got there, Mikan and Natsume.

"However, as much as I'd like to stay and try to make better of those—frowns you've got, it's about time that I leave. I didn't mean to stay long, anyways."

"Shotai!"

"I'm only here to relay a message." He placed his cloak over his head again, and a glint shone in his eyes, veiled by the shadow the cloth had created. "I'm back."

"_Sumire!"_

The next couple of scenes unfolded before me in a speed a I wasn't able to keep up with. Or I was simply too bewildered by it all that I refused to believe it was really happening.

Sumire—_Sumire, Sumire_—appeared out of nowhere and jumped for Shotai, hands armed with daggers and swords. She didn't look like the girl I was introduced to just mere hours ago. This Sumire had such bloodlust in her eyes, much like the Young Lord, and when she was darting for Shotai, her scream was filled with agony and despair, two emotions the Sumire I thought I knew didn't seem to have. Why and how she was here was the least of what surprised me, because in a matter of seconds, she had collided with Shotai and the two of them, fighting and struggling, went over the edge of the porch.

Then came Koko instantly. He shrieked her name from the bottom of his stomach as he came and left like the wind. He followed Sumire's trail down the hillside, but unlike her writhing body free-falling through the air, he moved in a manner that ensured his safety but still allowed him to go as fast as he could. "_Sumire! NO!_"His voice broke my heart. So hurt. So panicked.

And, just like that, the two of them disappeared down the hillside with a man neither the Young Lord, nor I, was able to handle.

Just like that, I'd lost the first friend I made since coming here. Lost someone who offered me friendship when nobody else did. Lost someone I didn't even begin to think I would lose tonight. And just like that, something in me broke.

_"_KOKO!"

Of course I wasn't going to let him fall to his death.

Apparently, neither was the Young Lord. "_Koko!_" he screamed, scrambling to his feet. I didn't hold him down. At about the same time he jumped off the ledge and into the night was when I, three steps ahead of him, spotted Koko's blonde head bobbing and leaping through the hillside rocks.

"Koko!" I hollered, trying to go faster and feeling frustrated when I couldn't. The breeze turned into a tornado tearing at my hair. The palace was higher up in the mountain that I had expected. Coming down it was more of a challenge as well. The rocks that granted footing were sharp and small, and when I jumped farther to decrease the space between Koko and I, I had a hard time regaining my balance every time.

At that instant, my thoughts found a way to trouble me like how they always do. These set were too great to ignore, though, for everything surrounding me backed them up.

I probably shouldn't have acted so rashly. I _knew _I shouldn't have acted so rashly. There was a better way to handle this other than to jump down an enormous hillside, let alone allow the Young Lord to do the same, but when I saw Koko's head vanish like that, into thin air—I didn't know. I was compelled to do something to save him and I didn't even know what compelled me.

But I wondered why . . . I didn't feel scared.

I didn't feel scared with the Young Lord this exposed to danger.

I didn't feel scared as he jumped rock onto rock, not knowing the probability of him slipping and getting hurt.

I didn't feel like a failure.

I felt that his safety was, surprisingly, not my first priority.

I felt that it was okay to trust him to protect himself. For now, at least.

Sumire's shouts were loud enough to echo back to where I was, and taking in the sound, it didn't seem like she's had the upper hand.

"Augh! Shotai you—bastard!"

Koko was slowly gaining up on her. He looked like he was doing fine coming down a slope such as this, in contrast to my fears, but whether it was due to making sure Sumire survived this fall or making sure Shotai didn't get away, it mattered close to none. He was okay. I underestimated him: he was going to be okay.

That was, if Sumire was going to be okay too.

A crack rung out in the night, drawing my attention back to the three ahead. I knew someone was injured; fatally, if they hit a rock and broke a bone, or opened a gut wound.

"No!"

Just when we were about to catch up with Koko, he sped down towards Sumire with a speed equivalent to that of a lightning bolt, leaving me in his wake to follow once again. He practically flew the last feet to catch her motionless body in his arms. "Sumire!" he cried as he got her. _She was the one to get hurt. She lost to Shotai. _Her weapons, meister-less, clanked against the rocks and fell to their destruction. Once Koko had her against his chest, he made haste to descend as quickly as he could to the bottom, where there was level ground. The way there, he kept screaming no. Stay with me. I'm not letting you die.

To my side, the Young Lord suddenly stopped. It brought me to a halt with him, but I was occupied with worries for Sumire's well-being. He stared ahead, and when I traced to what he was looking at with eyes hard like stone, I saw Shotai breaking left and escaping to the other side of the mountain. Before he vanished behind a boulder, he noticed us and smiled.

_"I'm only here to relay a message: I'm back."_

I turned back to my master. If he wanted to follow him, I'd go. If he wanted to call someone, I'd go.

When he pursed his lips and headed towards Koko and Sumire, already at the bottom, I went.

"Koko!" I called the second I stepped off the mountain. My legs wobbled as I hurried to him. "Koko, is Sumire alright?"

He was on the floor, cradling her like her life depended upon it. One arm around her shoulders, the other on her bleeding waist. The Young Lord came and squatted beside them.

"How bad is she?" he asked.

Koko was crying, but his voice didn't shake. "I don't know. They were moving too fast. But he kicked her. And she hit a rock and she just— . . . stopped moving."

"She's probably broken a bone," I added, positioning myself adjacent to the two. I put two fingers against the faint pulse in Sumire's neck. "She's alive, Koko. But she's bleeding—"

"He hurt her with his hand."

"—and we need to get her to Subaru as quickly as possible." Hand? Did he mean by a hand holding a blade? He did. He was just shaken up, seeing Sumire so lifeless, and he couldn't think straight

I still wasn't sure I was thinking straight myself. The events of the night were a blur, a dream; I actually met someone I failed to get rid of. There was the Young Lord and his mental breakdown, then Sumire and hers, then Koko right in front of me.

This was a sudden nightmare I just couldn't seem to wake up from.

Worse: this wasn't the last we were seeing of the man named Shotai.

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><p><em>Didn't I tell you it wasn't going to be as good as how it usually is? I've only gotten back to writing from a year of absence: please go easy on me. As I've done before, if you have any questions, leave it as a review or PM me, though most of them (if they're about Shotai and all) will most likely be answered next chapter. I promise.<em>

_Oh, and check out a new story called Of Crowns and Blood by Nymph0913. It's great! _

_Anyways, thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review, for I'm sure I need to get back to the writer I used to be._

_Stay smexy._


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